Chapter 402 Yuan Shao Sends Out Troops
Conquer the West, Conquer the West. This phrase has been spoken by Cao Cao since the fourth year of Zhongping. Qiao Yan also teased him when they met in Chen Ting in the past, saying that Liangzhou had been pacified, so the name of Conquer the West might as well be changed to Conquer the East.
But whether it is the expedition to the west or the expedition to the east, it has become a metaphor at this time.
The phrase "it's never too late to conquer the west" undoubtedly means that if Cao Cao is willing to surrender, he can seek a position in the court in Chang'an to expand the territory at any time.
When Qiao Yan was still a minister, she had already promised this, and now that she is the ruler of the nine provinces, the promise has not changed.
When he was already forced to defect because of the aristocratic family's choice, the weight of this sentence was self-evident.
This was the promise Qiao Yan made as an old friend.
Even though Cao Cao had questioned her at Hulao Pass whether she had already fallen in love with Han Xin, and even though, judging from the ownership rights over the years, Qiao Yan and Cao Cao had always been on two different sides, she did not change her original intention.
This original intention towards her friends may also be her original intention towards the people of the world.
Since there is no way he can start his own business, isn't Qiao Yan the best choice?
only……
Suddenly, someone took away my credit for nothing, and I felt a little aggrieved no matter how I looked at it.
Guo Jia asked: "Does General Cao really feel aggrieved?"
Cao Cao was not the kind of person who couldn't let go, nor did he intend to make any show of recruiting his troops. He just spoke to Guo Jia in a joking manner when the two armies gathered in one place.
But Guo Jia was used to joking with people like Qiao Yan and Xi Zhicai, so he would never let anyone take advantage of him verbally.
He pointed at Cao Cao's troops and said, "General Cao is quite interesting. He took over other people's troops at this time. But if he wants to use it to intimidate Zhang Menggao, who was just attacked by fire, it's fine. If he really fights against us, he will suffer a great loss."
Cao Cao said calmly, "But this is consistent with the words I said when I asked Wang Gongjie to borrow troops. I told him that I had to ask him to send troops because Yanzhou was attacked by you from Hulao Pass. If he could not provide timely support, he would have to take responsibility for the change of ownership of Yanzhou. Wang Gongjie dared not take such a crime. There was no other choice but to borrow troops. You have to give him an explanation, right?"
The people who were most confused at the moment were not Zao Zhi and Man Chong, who had already guessed Cao Cao's thoughts.
Although his change of sides seemed quick, it was actually a long tug-of-war from the meeting at Hulao Pass last year to the present day. It was not until today's promise to conquer the west that the final decision came to light.
It's not that he really had any idea of shrinking back and avoiding the battle because of Guo Jia's blocking his way.
The ones who were really still confused at this time were the soldiers who followed Cao Cao across the river from Henei County.
They could have been stationed in Chaoge with Wang Kuang, but they came to Yanzhou to help in the battle because of Wang Kuang's transfer order.
But judging from the current situation, it seems that they are not only changing the battlefield location, but also changing the emperor above their heads?
How could such a strange thing happen in this world!
"Of course there will be explanations. If Yanzhou is conquered, there will be no need to send reinforcements from Luoyang to Hulao Pass. The extra manpower can be put into the battles in Mengjin and Xiaopingjin. The absorption of the population of Henei County by Hedong County over the years has blurred the boundary between the two places. From this point of view, it is not impossible to complete the attack and assimilation of Henei County."
"The Sili Xiaowei Department is a whole, how can it be missing only this corner of Henei County? These soldiers will come under your Majesty's rule sooner or later, so what difference does it make if it's earlier or later?"
Guo Jia spread his hands and said, "General Cao, since we are all one of our own, there is no need to hide some things. When you borrowed soldiers from Wang Gongjie, did you really not think that this would make Henei County even more empty?"
Of course Cao Cao had thought about it and even included it in his letter of surrender.
But before Hanoi changed its owner, Guo Jia had exposed it...
He couldn't help but shake his head and laugh, "Guo Fengxiao, ah Guo Fengxiao, no wonder you were able to sit in the position of Chief Clerk of the Grand Marshal's Mansion before His Majesty ascended the throne. When it comes to guessing people's minds, you are really capable."
Cao Cao's compliment was not wrong, and Guo Jia's subsequent actions also proved this.
After formally reaching a cooperation with Cao Cao, he did not choose to go directly north to Puyang and make decisions to command the entire Yanzhou through Cao Cao's identity as the governor of Yanzhou, staying in the center of the state capital. Instead, he temporarily concealed the news that Cao Cao had escaped and temporarily stationed his troops in Suanzao.
Afterwards, while gathering news from central Yanzhou, they advanced towards Pingqiu from the northwest and south from Suanzao and Yongqiu respectively. Two days later, they completely completed the siege of Zhang Chao, Zang Hong and others.
Just when the encirclement was achieved, an urgent report rushed from the direction of Luoyang over Hulao Pass and was delivered to Guo Jia.
Written on it were two particularly important messages.
"General Cao, you see, what I said was correct. We will be able to take over Hanoi County sooner or later."
Guo Jia handed the letter in his hand to Cao Cao without any concealment, which made him feel quite uncomfortable.
But when Cao Cao saw the news in the letter, his eyelids jumped.
Xin Pi, a counselor under Yuan Shao, wanted to surrender and even sent a secret letter to the court in Chang'an. At this time, Xin Pi was stationed at the front line of Henei County's attack on Luoyang. This was indeed a sign that the war situation in Henei was about to change!
The Yingchuan scholars under Qiao Yan were typified by Xi Zhicai, Guo Jia, the uncle and nephew of the Xun family, and the father and son of the Chen family. They had long formed a force that could not be underestimated. Xin Pi's surrender might be because he had realized that Yuan Shao was not a long-term figure, or it was very likely because of the treatment of Yingchuan's advisers. In short, the credibility of this was very high.
And if Xin Pi's defection was surprising enough, then the news Xin Pi mentioned could not but make Cao Cao take it seriously -
Yuan Shao is in Yanzhou!
"I was originally wondering why, even though Chen Gongtai had already been captured, your majesty's spies in Yanzhou still noticed that the noble families in Dongping, Jiyin, Liangguo and other places were gathering in a way that they were competing to contact each other. I'm afraid that such a gathering would not be possible just by relying on the instructions left by Chen Gongtai and the already declining reputation of the Shouzhang Wang family."
Cao Cao continued, "But if Yuan Benchu arrived in Yanzhou in person and convinced these people, it would not be difficult to explain."
Thinking about the fact that in the twenty years since he had known Yuan Shao, the other party had relied on his family background and had almost never done such a condescending thing, Cao Cao couldn't tell what kind of complicated feelings he had when he heard the news.
Perhaps it was just like the moment when he heard Chen Gong's name from Guo Jia's mouth, he was no longer as disappointed as before. At most, he felt a little bit of change.
Guo Jia went on to say, "The situation in Yanzhou is like what you, General Cao, have experienced in the past few days. It is like rotten flesh growing on the arm. Once we find the wound, we can just apply medicine and wrap it up. Sooner or later, it will relapse. We must cut out the flesh and remove the sores to remove the remaining poison, so that we can have a chance to completely cure it."
"Some of this rotten meat has long been grown together with the good meat, and it is impossible to separate it completely. Yuan Benchu's arrival has become a medicine guide."
Cao Cao asked, "What are you going to do?"
Guo Jia pointed to the map in front of him and Cao Cao.
This simple map of the counties in Yanzhou shows the affiliation of the garrisons in each county at that time.
Some of the positions have changed within the past two days. For example, Cao Ang has turned north from Fengqiu to meet Cao Cao and his son. There is no need to defend the Pu River to ensure the safety of the army under his control.
For example, after leaving a small team of soldiers to garrison Yongqiu, Yuan Huan and Huang Zhong, who had sent troops from Yingchuan, also came to join them.
The arrival of these two armies not only made their siege of Pingqiu stronger, but also allowed Guo Jia to still have more troops at his disposal than Cao Cao, allowing him to continue to take the lead in the operation to quell the rebellion in Yanzhou.
He replied: "I want to be a messenger and lure you into a trap."
The term "information gap" was mentioned by Qiao Yan after he had succeeded in taking the lead several times.
At this time in Yanzhou, although it was a matter within the borders of one state and not as far away as the changes in Yangzhou at that time, it could still be considered an information gap!
Yuan Shao and the Yanzhou nobles had not yet received the news that Chen Gong's plan had been exposed, and were still waiting for the other side to give an order to launch an attack. Little did they know that the situation had already changed dramatically. Even the identities of the prey and the hunter had changed due to the increase in the number of forces involved.
This is the opportunity for them to launch a hunt.
Man Chong's decision to station troops in Jiyin and Dingtao for Cao Ren cut off the connection between the other families outside Chenliu and Zang Hong, Zhang Chao and others one step ahead of time, so that the news that Cao Cao and Guo Jia had already joined forces was still confined to Chenliu.
Xiahou Yuan's arrangement of stationing himself in Dongwuyang meant that the news that Wang Kuang had borrowed troops from Cao Cao and then submitted a letter to the court in Yecheng did not reach Yuan Shao in time.
It seemed that the ones who were under siege were Zang Hong and others, but the one who had actually fallen into the trap was Yuan Shao!
All it takes is a hint to escalate the drama of this noble family's betrayal to a climax!
"I wonder if General Cao has any suitable candidates who can go to Shouzhang to win Yuan Benchu's trust and let him lead the aristocratic families he has persuaded, along with their private soldiers, to Chenliu County to fall into his trap?"
It would be best if this person came from a noble family, had a clear understanding of the current situation, and was determined to stand firm on the side of the Chang'an court.
"Yes, there is such a candidate!" Cao Cao replied immediately, "Please ask Zhong Yuanchang to go to Dongping."
Zhong Yuanchang, Zhong Yao!
In the Battle of Changsha, Zhong Yao had fought alongside Cao Cao. However, when Cao Cao first took up the post of governor of Yanzhou, Zhong Yao was still in Yuzhou and had not yet taken up an official post.
It was not until two years ago, when Cao Cao's troops entered Yuzhou with the intention of conquering Yuan Shu, that Zhong Yao suddenly went north to surrender and, on the grounds that Yuan Shu was unworthy of his counsel, he served under him.
Cao Cao entrusted him with important tasks. When Cao Cao was conquering Yuzhou, Zhong Yao was in charge of Yanzhou.
However, before the Chenliu civil strife broke out, Zhong Yao happened to return to his ancestral home in Changsha for an important matter, so he did not appear in Puyang City. Instead, after noticing the unusual troop movements in Yingchuan, he hurried north to find Cao Cao, and only heard about this series of changes a step late.
During these few days, Cao Cao and Zhong Yao talked for a long time, and they had a detailed explanation of why he made such a decision and the future of the aristocratic family after his transfer.
It is said that handwriting reflects the character of the person, and this is also true for Zhong Yao.
He did not care about the influence of the spread of books on the family, and only expressed his thoughts to Cao Cao:
If Cao Cao had made such a decision, there would be no need for any repeated actions. This is the way to achieve progress.
He would also judge for himself whether Qiao Yan's request for the people was true after he personally arrived in Dayong.
And now, he was willing to do his part to pacify Yanzhou because of his trust in Cao Cao.
Therefore, when Cao Cao later told him about the mission of going to Shouzhang to induce Yuan Shao to send troops, Zhong Yao took it over without hesitation.
Before he left the camp under the city of Pingqiu, he even examined all of Chen Gong's handwriting over the years and forged a letter that was extremely similar to Chen Gong's handwriting, which was enough to pass for a real letter to Yuan Shao and the Yanzhou nobles.
After Zhong Yao rushed to Shouzhang without stopping, the letter soon reached the hands of the elders of the Shouzhang Wang family, and then was delivered to Yuan Shao.
Yuan Shao read the letter quickly and a serious look appeared on his face.
This is not a simple call to action letter.
The letter wrote that Qiao Yan's soldiers stationed in Yingchuan suddenly moved north, and Guo Jia in the direction of Hulao Pass also sent a team to join them, intending to counterattack Yanzhou when Cao Cao was defeated at Hulao Pass.
Cao Cao dispatched troops from Puyang to the south to engage in a fierce battle with them, but was still unable to completely eliminate them, allowing the troops from Yingchuan to successfully gain a foothold in Yongqiu.
Although this sudden battle gave them the opportunity to stab Cao Cao in the back, it also made him hesitate as to whether Cao Cao was really going to flee to Chang'an.
After all, this fight was real.
However, Zhang Miao died in this battle, leaving only Zhang Chao and Zang Hong in control of the Chenliu County garrison, which made him suspect that this fight was a drama staged by Cao Cao in order to take back Chenliu.
Therefore, at his invitation, Zhong Yao temporarily left Puyang on the pretext of returning home to visit relatives, and at this time delivered this letter here on his behalf, hoping that they could lead their private troops to Yongqiu at this time to attack the troops under Qiao Yan and see how Cao Cao would react.
Once Cao Cao really decides to abandon Yanzhou and join Qiao Yan, they will immediately change direction, cooperate internally and externally to take down Cao Cao, and then completely expel Qiao Yan's troops from Yanzhou!
The truth and falsehood in this letter were completely unrecognizable to them, as all the news of mutiny in Chenliu was blocked west of Dingtao.
All they know is—
A sudden attack from Yingchuan is indeed possible.
Chen Gong's hesitation is also normal.
As the messenger, Zhong Yao should be in the same team as them and should not do anything to deceive them.
For Yuan Shao, the news in this letter seemed more true, but it was not entirely good news for him.
The death of Zhang Miao has exceeded the scope of his previous intention to suppress him. If Zhang Chao cannot replace his brother's position, then it will be many times more difficult for him to defeat Cao Cao than before.
Therefore, he must take advantage of the short time after Zhang Miao's death and join forces with Chen Gong, Zhang Chao and others as soon as possible!
Whether Cao Cao had really sided with Qiao Yan had become less important at this point.
Since he was able to bring him down and completely control Yanzhou without having to pass on the message through a second person, he must be the traitor!
If Chen Gong is hesitant about this decision, then he will do it.
Anyway, all he wants is to achieve this goal, and he doesn't need to care whether there are any disruptive developments in the process.
"General, what do you think, should we send out troops?" Several leaders who had gathered in Shouzhang asked hurriedly when they saw that Yuan Shao had finished reading the letter.
The current situation seemed to have changed from what they had originally hoped to see. It was not what Yuan Shao had told them yesterday, that Cao Cao and Zhang Miao would fight first. If Qiao Yan's men intervened, they would be able to provide support from the rear and gain the most merit.
But their plan may have come to an end.
It was as if an invisible hand was urging them towards a more unknown path.
However, the next moment, they saw Yuan Shao made the decision, "Send troops, of course we must send troops! In my opinion, you all care about the Han Dynasty, this time we will succeed!"
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