Hangu Pass, founded in the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, is known as the reputation of "opening the sky in Hangu Zhuangguan, and the dust of ten thousand valleys is shocked to the north sky".

This pass guards the throat of Luoyang in the east and Chang'an in the west, according to the plateau in the west, the Jiejian in the east, the Qinling Mountains in the south, and the Yellow River in the north, which is one of the earliest Xiongguan fortresses built on the land of Shenzhou.

After the snow is clear, the lazy sun caresses the earth with the cold wind, like a girl's gentle and graceful, and like a shy woman, half covered and half hidden, beautiful style, charming and infinite.

"Da, da, da!"

In the sound of horses' hooves, a team of cavalry slowly climbed to the top of the dangerous peak in the northeast of Hangu Pass, and then reined in the precipice, looking at the Hangu Pass City Tower where the banner was hunting.

"Pangu opened the world, and there was a Hangu moat, and since then it has been a place where a husband and a wife can not be opened. Since the establishment of the Spring and Autumn Period, this pass is the first male pass in the world, how many heroes and heroes hate the pass, how many kings and hegemons stop here. The years have passed, the dynasties have changed, and now it is finally the turn of my generation Chen Binghan Guguan! ”

On the top of Lema Mountain, Yuan Shao stared at the majestic Hangu Pass, as well as the Xiliang garrison on the city tower, touching and feeling a lot. However, it is not difficult to hear a bit of the momentum of the hegemon from the tone of his speech, talking about the past and the present, full of ambition and arrogance.

Standing at Yuan Shao's side, Cao Cao subconsciously lagged behind Yuan Shao by half a position, deliberately highlighting the status of the leader of the Yuan League to show respect.

At this moment, seeing Yuan Shao looking at Hanguguan with great pride, Cao Cao smiled and bowed, but did not answer, which made it more and more incisive that what Yuan Shao said made him speechless. Silence.

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that Cao Cao respected him so much, and Yuan Shao couldn't help but recall the good times when he was young and drinking with Cao Cao and lingering in the flower streets and willow alleys. As soon as he thought of this, a smile naturally appeared on the corner of his mouth. There was a bit of unbearability in his eyes, mixed with a hint of guilt.

In fact, since the fiasco of Feiyundu, Cao Cao can be said to be completely "down". Although he still served as the deputy leader of the princes' army, he still sat in his original position when the princes deliberated; But he obviously spoke less, and even if he occasionally put forward his opinions, he was not taken seriously by the princes of all walks of life and ignored them. Saying it is equivalent to not saying it, and the right to speak has dropped sharply.

This was only a subtle change between the princes, in terms of camping arrangements and the supply of food and grass. The treatment of Cao Cao's soldiers plummeted and he was humiliated. Originally, Cao's camp tent was stationed on the left side of Yuan Shao's camp, in the middle of the allied camp, and the supply of grain and grass was also given priority over other princes. At the end of the month, you can get the next month's grain, grass and baggage; But now it's not as good as it used to be. The camp to the left of Yuan Shao's camp was reassigned to Zhang Yan, the leader of the Montenegrin army. On the right is the camp of Lu Bu, and the camp of Cao Cao is squeezed out in the northernmost part of the camp, next to the Yellow River, and it is also the location where the camp is most likely to be robbed. At the same time, when distributing grain and grass, Cao Jun only received ten days of grain, which means that in the few days after crossing the river, Cao Cao's camp had run out of grain and grass. Fortunately, he still had some surplus food before, and he could barely last a few days. Otherwise, he would have licked his face and begged Yuan Shao for food and grass today.

It is said that a hairless phoenix is not as good as a chicken, and an old-fashioned tiger is not as good as a dog.

This is the situation Cao Cao is facing. Before that, he probably never dreamed that he would end up in this step, being despised and bullied was secondary, and the most important thing was that he would have to meet with all the princes every day with a smile on his face. When he meets people, he will greet him, and if people are willing to pay attention to him, he will nod, and the right is to return the courtesy; If you don't want to pay attention to him, turn your head to look to the side and pretend not to see him, and then walk in front of him with your head held high, without looking at him.

This is the naked reality, Cao Cao understood this truth twenty years ago, but he never imagined that this kind of encounter would befall him one day. Everyone understands the truth, but when it really falls on his head, Cao Cao really can't accept it, his face is full of anger, and he throws the books and utensils in the camp tent all over the ground, and he can't eat for a whole day.

This scene is only known to Cao Ren and Cheng Yu, and outsiders have no way of knowing, but the princes from all walks of life can imagine Cao Cao's annoyed and angry appearance.

It's just that to everyone's expectations, Cao Cao locked himself in the tent for a day and a night, and the next day he was like a nobody, still smiling and welcoming people. Regardless of whether he was ignored or not, he didn't mind, and still gave his hand humbly and politely, and the thoughtfulness of the courtesy was impeccable. Especially in front of Yuan Shao, Cao Cao used to often call Yuan Shao's cousin and call him "the first brother", but now he respects Yuan Shao everywhere, and goes to the handsome tent to greet Yuan Mengzhu sooner or later, asking to do something within his ability, sharing worries for Yuan Shao everywhere, as if he is a vassal and a subordinate.

Because of this, Yuan Shao, who had already planned to completely give up Cao Cao's ally, couldn't bear it, and often recalled the bits and pieces of his past with Cao Cao and the friendship between them for more than 30 years, and then accepted Cao Cao again. And Cao Cao's humble and respectful look also made Yuan Shao very useful, and Cao Cao, whose strength had been greatly damaged, no longer posed any threat to him, so after a few days, Yuan Shao trusted Cao Cao more than before. Whenever he encountered a difficult matter or a difficult matter that he hesitated about, he often put aside his group of advisers and specially asked Cao Cao to come over to discuss, and then make a decision.

Today, after the snow and the beginning of the sunny day, Yuan Shao called Cao Cao to accompany him out of the camp to Dongling Jie Jian to personally inspect the situation of the garrison of Hangu Pass.

Therefore, the people who accompanied Yuan Shao at this moment, except for the Hebei general Wen Chou and a team of more than 300 personal soldiers, only Cao Cao came with him.

After staring at Hangu Pass for a long time, Yuan Shao turned his head to look at Cao Cao beside him, with a faint smile on his face: "In Meng De's opinion, how long will it take for my allies to break through this pass, and how many soldiers and horses will be lost?" ”

Cao Cao was slightly stunned when he heard this, his expression remained unchanged, and he still lowered his eyebrows, but the corner of his eyes showed a look of surprise, paying attention to the change in the expression on Yuan Shao's face.

It is not difficult to hear from the voice that Yuan Shao seems to be full of confidence in the attack on Hangu Pass, and he is determined to succeed, so he will confidently ask "how long it will take to break through the pass", rather than "whether he can capture Hangu Pass".

Ask yourself, Cao Cao was skeptical, or pessimistic, about whether the allies could conquer Hangu Pass, and was very optimistic, which was diametrically opposed to Yuan Shao, who was full of ambition. However, this kind of thinking can't be told the truth in front of Yuan Shao; Otherwise, his hard work these days will be in vain.

After making up his mind, Cao Cao could only do what he liked and follow Yuan Shao's train of thought to say something against his will. Only in this way will Yuan Shao be happier the more he listens, and then trust him more and more.

"The leader of the alliance is eloquent and strategic, far-sighted, and powerful, and everyone in the Han world knows it. Since the alliance leader led the allied army to the expedition, the battle has been invincible, the soldiers have pointed out, invincible, the prestige is unparalleled, and the prestige is as high as the sky. Therefore, the last general thinks that at present, our allied army is in full swing, and it is an excellent opportunity to take advantage of the victory to march, if nothing else, before the end of the year, we will be able to conquer Hangu Pass and completely defeat Li Thief and his Xiliang army! ”

When these words came out of his mouth, Cao Cao secretly despised himself in his heart, and suddenly felt that his throat was dry and unbearable. So he originally wanted to say more things that he listened to, but he felt tired and disgusting when he said it, so he went straight to the point and followed Yuan Shao's mind to say something he wanted to say but it was inconvenient to boast about himself.

"Meng De's words are extremely true, and they are very much in line with my opinion! Hahaha???"

Sure enough, Yuan Shao was very helpful after hearing this, and immediately laughed. Immediately, he turned over and dismounted, and waved his hand to signal Cao Cao to dismount as well, as if there was something important to discuss, and he didn't want others to know.

After turning over and dismounting, Cao Cao followed Yuan Shao and walked slowly, not far from a smooth rock, his own soldiers had already swept away the snow, laid soft cushions and small tables, and put hot wine cups on the small tables.

Sitting down immediately after Yuan Shao, Cao Cao looked down suspiciously and paid attention to the look on Yuan Shao's face, did not take the initiative to ask, and waited for Yuan Shao to say it himself.

Waving his hand to signal his soldiers to retreat to the edge of the mountain, Yuan Shao stretched out his hand with a smile and prepared to pour wine, but Cao Cao, who was quick-eyed, picked up the wine jar first, and poured Yuan Shao a full glass of wine.

"Meng De is too polite. Speaking of which, although I am obsessed with how old Meng De is, you and I have known each other for decades, although we are not brothers of the same mother, but the friendship is deeper than that of brothers. Therefore, you and my brother do not need to be so polite, wouldn't it be better to be honest with each other? Hehehe! ”

"Thank you for the alliance leader's love, Cao is ashamed." Seeing that Yuan Shao's expression was honest, Cao Cao's expression changed slightly, and his mind relaxed a little, and he no longer regarded himself as the "last general".

"People know that Cao Mou really doesn't dare to argue with the alliance leader. Today, Cao lost the foundation of Yanzhou before, and then there was a fiasco in Feiyundu, and now there are only three small cities, and there are only more than 10,000 soldiers and horses. In recent days, if it weren't for the alliance leader's care and love, I am afraid that it would have been swallowed up by other princes, or it would have been destroyed by Lu Bu and he would have been dead for a long time. Therefore, the alliance leader recreated Cao Mou's kindness, so that I will never forget, and I will be rewarded in the future! The leader of the alliance, please raise the lamp, Cao Mou respects the leader of the alliance, please! ”

"Hehehe! Meng De's words were serious. You and I drink this cup together! ”

After laughing, Yuan Shao raised his lamp and drank it all, and then smiled at Cao Cao.

"Meng De doesn't have to worry about the battle of Feiyundu, don't you ignore the heroes by their momentary success or failure? Meng De encountered a small setback before, and his strength was weakened, but the soldiers have a saying: victory and defeat are common things in soldiers. In time, Meng De will definitely be able to make a comeback, regroup, and reappear majestic! ”

"By the auspicious words of the alliance leader, I hope so, Cao Mou has thanked the alliance leader for his promotion in advance." Cao Cao's expression changed slightly, and he waved his hands to thank him.

―――――――――――― (To be continued......)