Chapter 5 is like a bamboo, section 16, February of the second year of Xingping of the Han Kingdom (195 AD), Luoyang.

Yuan Shao heard that Xin Ping had returned from Yizhou, and hurriedly went out of the city to greet him, and Xin Ping was greatly moved. Yuan Shao took his hand and said hard,

"It's a difficult journey to Yizhou, and it's half a year to go, it's too hard."

"At the end of last year, I went down the river from Jiangzhou in Ba County." Xin Ping said,

"When I arrived in Jingzhou Nanjun, I was in Xiangyang for more than a month, so I didn't come back until now."

"How's the matter in Yizhou? Is Liu Yan willing to send troops to King Qin again? Yuan Shao asked impatiently.

Xin Ping's face darkened, and he said in a low voice: "My lord, Liu Yan is dead." Yuan Shao was stunned for a moment,

"Liu Yan is dead? How could he die? "Last year's Chang'an mutiny, Liu Yan's two sons, Liu Fan and Liu Dan, were killed.

Liu Yan was very sad and depressed. Later, in order to win over Liu Yan, Li Wei asked Liu Yan's friend, Yilang Pang Xi, to send Liu Fan and Liu Dan's wives and children to Yizhou.

When Liu Yan saw his grandchildren, he blamed himself even more, his condition worsened sharply, and he was bedridden. In the autumn, Mianzhu, the administrative office of the Yizhou Thorn History Department, was struck by lightning and caught fire, and the whole city was burned down.

In desperation, Liu Yan ordered the administrative office to be moved to Chengdu in Shu County. Liu Yan died in September because of overwork and poisonous sores on the back of the bed for a long time.

Liu Yan still has two sons left at this time, one is Liu Zhang and the other is Liu Mao. Liu Zhang is older, mild-tempered, benevolent, and deeply loved and supported by Yizhou's subordinates.

Yizhou Governor Shi Zhaowei immediately united with the Taishou of various counties in Yizhou, jointly played the Son of Heaven, and recommended Liu Zhang to succeed him as the assassin of Yizhou.

Of course, Li Wei would not miss this good opportunity to occupy Yizhou, so he asked the Son of Heaven to issue an edict to appoint Hu Mao, a native of Yingchuan, as the assassin of Yizhou, and hurried to Chengdu to take office.

In November, Hu Mao held the festival and arrived in Chengdu with a decree. Liu Zhang, with the support of Zhao Wei and some Yizhou forces, refused to recognize Hu Mao's identity as a assassin on the grounds that the Son of Heaven and the imperial court were held hostage by ** Yu.

At this time, Xin Ping was in Chengdu, and he and Hu Mao were both from Yingchuan and had been friends for many years. Considering that if Hu Mao was put in charge of Yizhou, Yuan Shao's power would directly extend to Yizhou, so Xin Ping spared no effort to help Hu Mao seize the military and political power in Yizhou.

Hu Mao arrived in Yizhou, although he was not familiar with the place, but his biggest advantage was to carry the decree of the festival, and he came on the order of the Son of Heaven, and his name was justified.

Under the persuasion of Xin Ping, Hu Mao was supported by some foreign forces (the so-called Dongzhou scholars) who fled to Shu from Nanyang and Guanzhong in a very short period of time, and some local forces such as Jialong and Ren Qi of Yizhou.

Liu Zhang and Zhao Wei saw that the situation was critical, and immediately got in touch with Zhang Lu in Hanzhong. Zhang Lu sent troops to help.

After hearing the news, Hu Mao and Xin Ping immediately attacked first, commanding Shen Mi, Lou Fa, Gan Ning and other Yizhou generals to attack Liu Zhang.

In December, Zhang Lu's reinforcements arrived in Chengdu, and the two sides fought under the city of Chengdu. Hu Mao was defeated and died in the city on the spot.

Xin Ping, Shen Mi, Lou Fa, Gan Ning and others fled all the way to Jiangzhou with the remnants of the defeated army, and went down the river to Jingzhou by boat.

Jingzhou Liu Biao listened to Xin Ping's narration, shook his head and sighed,

"Junlang died well. If he does not die, sooner or later he will be divided and usurped, and his descendants will be harmed. He built more than 1,000 rides in Mianzhu, and the honor guards were imitated by the Son of Heaven, and his ambitions were far more than one Yizhou. Xin commented that now that his son Liu Zhang has openly killed the court officials, the disaster in Yizhou may be even worse than before.

It is better to go west to the king of Qin, sooner rather than later. Liu Biao agreed, expressed his willingness to obey Yuan Shao's command, and immediately ordered the Jingzhou army to go north to Nanyang after the beginning of the spring, and join Yuan Tan's army to attack Guanzhong again.

After Liu Zhang killed Hu Mao, he played the Son of Heaven again, saying that Hu Mao had rebelled in Yizhou and had been killed by himself.

In desperation, the imperial court had no choice but to issue an order to appoint Liu Zhang as the assassin of Yizhou. Liu Zhang hurriedly wrote to Liu Biao again, asking Liu Biao to send the heads of the Yizhou rebel generals to Chengdu.

Liu Biao was furious and scolded Liu Zhang. Liu Zhang immediately appointed Zhao Wei as the general of the expedition to the east, and stationed troops in the city of Qu Rencheng in Ba County, preparing to attack Liu Biao.

The situation in Jingzhou suddenly became tense. Liu Yan is dead, Liu Zhang is going to fight Liu Biao again, the Yizhou army is completely out of hope, and the Jingzhou army may also be pinned down on both sides of the Yangtze River.

The sudden change in the situation caught Yuan Shao off guard, and he hurriedly summoned his subordinates to renegotiate the strategy of seizing Guanzhong.

"The lesson of Qinwang's failure last year is too profound for us." Frustrated,

"The strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army is strong, if we can't effectively disperse the forces of the Northern Xinjiang Army, we will not be able to defeat Li Dao and Guo Yan, we will not be able to occupy Guanzhong, and we will not be able to achieve the absolute advantage of pacifying the world."

"The top priority is to help Cao Cao defeat Lü Bu and retake Yanzhou, so as to induce the Northern Xinjiang army to immediately cross the river to the south to fight." Tian Feng pointed to the map and said,

"Once the Northern Xinjiang Army is caught in the two battlefields of Yanzhou and Guanxi, we can quickly enter Guanzhong. This time, no matter how powerful the Northern Xinjiang Army was and how abundant Hebei's financial endowment was, Li Hong could not deal with the three battlefields at the same time. ”

"Cao Cao has sent people to ask for help several times." The judge said,

"I think you can promise him. His subordinate is now in Luoyang, and we can have a good talk with him. ”

"Last year, we secretly supported Lü Bu in capturing Yanzhou, and Cao Cao was very unhappy." Xu You said,

"Later, he asked for help from the adults at the moment of life and death, and the adults proposed at that time that he should send his family to Luoyang and then send troops to help, but Cao Cao refused, and he was struggling alone in Yanzhou, which shows that he has a very deep prejudice against the adults, and he no longer trusts the adults."

Now Cao Cao has lost Xuzhou, surrounded by Li Hong, Lu Bu, Tian Kai and Liu Bei, and is in a desperate situation. In order to survive, he asked for help again. However, this person is unruly and ruthless, and he doesn't recognize people when he turns his face, so it's better to guard against him. Once this man-eating wolf becomes a man-eating tiger, we may suffer from it, so in my opinion, we can help him, but he must send his family to Luoyang. Although this person can be used, it is also necessary to keep him firmly under control. Yuan Shao thought for a moment and said to everyone: "The current situation in the Central Plains is very favorable to Li Hong, and the possibility of him taking the opportunity to send troops is very high. In order to ensure that he can send troops to Yanzhou and drag his main army in Yanzhou, we must not only help Cao Cao defeat Lü Bu, but also personally send troops to help, so it is better to re-establish trust with Cao Cao at this time. Cao Cao and Li Hong had several interactions in the past when they were in Luoyang, and they admired each other. Moreover, Cao Cao resolutely respects the son of today, and there is no contradiction between him and Li Hong. If we force Cao Cao to be in a hurry, he simply surrenders to Li Hong and fights us with Li Hong and Lu Bu, and the situation in the Central Plains will immediately be one-sided. At that time, even if we occupied Guanzhong, we would lose the advantage of sweeping the world. Fu Zhu and the others all agreed with Yuan Shao's opinion.

Yuan Shao urgently summoned Manzhong and promised to send money and food to Cao Cao. Cao Cao's strength is not good now, even if he is supported by money and food, but under the attack of Li Hong, Lu Bu, Tian Kai and Liu Bei, it will be difficult to support him for a long time.

Therefore, after thanking Yuan Shao for his help with money and food, Man Chong put forward a request to ask Yuan Shao to send troops to help.

Yuan Shao agreed. Yuzhou Assassin Yuan Wei, Chen Guoxiang Gao Gan, Peiguo Xiang Yuan Zhong, and Yingchuan Taishou Xinbi will send troops one after another to attack Lü Bu from the direction of Chenliu and Shanyang, so as to form an east-west flank with Cao Cao.

"If Li Hong sends troops to Yanzhou, will your army's army meet it?" Man Pet hesitated for a long time and asked cautiously.

Yuan Shao said with a smile: "Since I sent troops to help Meng De, of course I am in the same boat with him." You can rest assured, as long as Li Hong crosses the river, we will fight together. However, in order to gain the advantage of blocking the Northern Frontier Army as soon as possible, we must defeat Lü Bu by March anyway. Man Zhong nodded, and asked again: "Lu Bu is from Northern Xinjiang, and this attack on Yanzhou has received the assistance of the general, if we defeat him, he can flee back to Hebei, but what to do with Zhang Miao, Zhang Chao, Zang Hong, and Guo Gong?" Is it left to our Yanzhou disposal? Obviously, Cao Cao was worried that Yuan Shao would interfere in Yanzhou's affairs, and forcibly left Zhang Miao, Zang Hong and others to continue to be in charge of Yanzhou counties, and then used them to weaken his own strength and restrict his own development, so as to achieve the goal of indirectly controlling Yanzhou.

"Although Zhang Miao is a good friend of me and Meng De, in the past few years, he first secretly dealt with me, and then openly betrayed Meng De, the brotherhood between us has long been gone, and this person can't be kept. As for Zang Hong and Guo Gong, one is a famous scholar in Xuzhou, and the other is a Confucian in Yanzhou, after the Henan Wang clan, it is better to admit his mistakes, there is no need for bloody killings. Then Yuan Shao's face changed, and he said sharply,

"Meng De has killed too many people, is he unable to sleep now if he can't see people's heads and smell blood?" Full of shame on his face, bowing his head and saying nothing.

Cao Cao's massacre of hundreds of thousands of unarmed homeless people and civilians in Xuzhou was really an outrageous affair.

Back then, Huangfu Song and Zhu Jun killed people, and those Yellow Turban soldiers were all rebellious. Now Cao Cao killed innocent lives, which is a heinous crime in both sense.

In the future, if the Son of Heaven returns to power and does not kill Cao Cao, he will not be able to explain to the people of the world at all, so if Cao Cao and his subordinates want to save their lives and survive, they can only fight bloody battles and rest until death, and there is no way out.

In other words, if Yuan Shao can't control Cao Cao now, he will definitely have to meet Cao Cao in the future.

The reason is very simple, whether the Son of Heaven is in charge or Yuan Shao is in charge, in order to win the trust of the world, the first thing to kill is Cao Cao.

In the future, even if Li Hong was a rebel of the Han Dynasty, Li Hong saved millions of displaced people and defended the territory of the Han Dynasty, and his exploits were known to the world, which was enough to offset his mistakes.

But what about Cao Cao? In addition to pacifying the scourge of the Yellow Turban, Cao Cao occupied Yanzhou, attacked Xuzhou, and killed people everywhere.

Since the Son of Heaven wants to kill him, Li Hong and Yuan Shao also want to kill him, where is Cao Cao's way out? Cao Cao and Xun Yu, Mao Jue, Cheng Yu, Man Chong and others have carefully discussed, and there is only one way, which is to defeat Li Hong and Yuan Shao, like Dong Zhuo, and coerce the Son of Heaven to order the world, so that he can save his life, keep the glory and wealth, and of course, he can also protect the Jiangshan Sheji of the Han Dynasty.

In the future, Li Hong is dead, Yuan Shao is also dead, and this history will be written by the victors, and what is the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Xuzhou?

Just find a reason to deceive future generations. If you can't do it, you will completely erase this stain from history.

With a way to survive, an ambition to dominate the world, and a strategy to coerce the Son of Heaven to command the world, the first thing Cao Cao had to do next was to survive.

The first thing he needed was Yuan Shao's help, so he sent Man Chong to Luoyang, willing to send his family members to Luoyang as hostages, in exchange for the money, food, and ordnance he needed most.

However, the situation in the world has changed, Cao Cao suddenly became important to Yuan Shao at this moment, Cao Cao became the most important chess piece for Yuan Shao to pacify the world, and what he needs now is not Cao Cao's family but Cao Cao's trust.

Only by gaining Cao Cao's trust and Cao Cao's allegiance can he control the situation in the Central Plains and then successfully occupy Guanzhong.

"You go back and tell Meng De that if he kills again, I will definitely not save him." Yuan Shao said bitterly,

"I am doing this now, I am going to offend the people of the world, and I am going to be insulted by the people of the world, you know? I lost so much, not for Cao Mengde, but to prevent Li Hong from occupying the Central Plains and preventing Li Hong from usurping the world, I am for the sake of the Han Sheji, do you know? Man Pet nodded again and again, and said a lot of words of gratitude in a sincere fear, and then he made another request,

"Can you convince Tian Kai of Qingzhou to stand still?"

"I have already sent someone to Qingzhou." Yuan Shao said,

"Tian Kai is from Northern Xinjiang, and we can't trust him too much. Once the Northern Xinjiang Army moves south, the situation in the Central Plains will change greatly, and we cannot predict whether Tian Kai will remain still. This person is not as straightforward as Gongsun Zhan, he is scheming, and he may turn against him at a critical moment. ”

"What about the direction of Xuzhou? Will the adults send troops to Xuzhou to contain Liu Bei? ”

"Lord Feng Ji went to Yangzhou a few years ago, and he hasn't returned yet, so I don't know if Yuan Shu, a bastard, will take the opportunity to send troops to capture Xuzhou." Yuan Shao suddenly smiled,

However, with Yuan Shu's temper, he will definitely fight Xuzhou this year. He is very pitiful now, he only occupies one county in Yangzhou Jiujiang, he does not fight Xuzhou, how will he survive in the future? "The face of the full pet is gloomy.

The people of Xuzhou hated Cao Cao to the bone, eager to peel his skin and devour his flesh, once the northern army crossed the river to the south, Liu Bei was bound to raise a large army to attack Yanzhou.

"Don't worry." Yuan Shao waved his hand and said,

"You go back first, and let Meng De immediately launch an attack on Lu Bu. If Yuan Shu is unwilling to send troops to contain Liu Bei in Xuzhou, I will send troops to fight Yuan Shu and force him to fight Xuzhou. "Jump to