September 16, afternoon.
Luyang City, outside the east gate.
The little emperor Liu Xie was riding on a tall horse with a high bridge saddle and horseshoes, not caring that the cold autumn wind was blowing the cloak behind him.
Behind him are two iron tower-like generals, wearing helmets and armor, riding tall war horses. One hand controls the reins and the other rests on the hilt of the sword. They look like they are loyal to their master. It is Yu Lin. Zhonglang general Xu Huang and Huben Zhonglang general Feng Qi. To the left and right of the two lieutenants and generals, stood more than a hundred ministers, all wearing court uniforms and swords, and in high spirits. Behind this group of courtiers, there were 1,600 Yu Lin Shi and Hu Ben Shi, armed with strong weapons and full of morale. And on the city wall of Luyang County behind these 1,600 Yulin and Huben warriors, flags and banners were fluttering at this time, and warriors gathered. This was the 1,000-hundred-strong army under the command of General Dong Cheng!
This battle in Luyang can be regarded as feeding the little emperor Liu Xie and the general Dong Cheng!
Before the Battle of Luyang, even counting the ministers in the court and their family members who could carry weapons into battle, the young emperor Liu Xie and the general Dong Cheng could recruit at most a thousand people. But now, after absorbing some of Yang Feng and Han Xian's troops, Liu Xie and Dong Cheng have been able to pull out 3,012 troops (Yu Lin and Hu Ben are considered the emperor's troops)! Among them, 1,600 are still the essence of the Baibo Army that has been fighting for a long time.
In addition, there are still dozens of trebuchets on top of Luyang City! If anyone wants to attack the city again, Liu Xie will not be able to fight.
But if you want to rely on these 3,120 people to stop Cao Cao... that's really too much! That's why the young emperor Liu Xie, after learning that Cao Cao was coming, gathered his troops and officials and went to the outside of Luyang City to greet Sili Xiaowei, Yanzhou Mu, Lu Shangshu Sheng, Feitinghou Cao Cao and Cao Mengde.
Of course, Cao Mengde must be afraid of Liu Xie, who has an army and may be able to use magic. Otherwise, he should have entered Luyang City yesterday instead of setting up camp at the lower village in the east of Luyang City and then leading his elite troops to the east gate of Luyang at noon today.
From yesterday afternoon to now, almost a day and night have passed. Cao Cao must have thought carefully about it and probably adjusted his deployment...
Just when Liu Xie was wondering how the traitor Cao Mengde would face his "demigod emperor", a large crimson flag appeared in the distance, with a red background and a flame pattern border, and a big Chinese character Cao on it. At the same time, seven or eight large flags appeared, all waving, and then there were jumping pheasant feathers on their iron helmets, followed by a neat line of armored cavalry, surrounding Cao Cao, who appeared in everyone's sight. .
Among the more than a thousand elite soldiers that Cao Cao led in Shangluo before, there were 300 cavalry. They may be the predecessors of the so-called Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and they looked extremely elite. The elite cavalry that appeared in Liu Xie's sight today were far more than three hundred, and should be more than a thousand cavalry!
Obviously, Cao Cao has transferred more troops from Xu County!
Sure enough, behind these more than a thousand cavalry, there were also large groups of infantry. Most of them were armored men, either holding halberds and large shields, or carrying spears more than ten feet long, or carrying bows and crossbows. , one team after another, seemingly endless, and the dust they stepped on when marching filled the sky. This number is probably as many as ten or twenty thousand!
Although Yang Feng and Han Xian also led 10,000 to 20,000 people to force Lu Yang before, compared with the 10,000 to 20,000 people brought by Cao Cao, it was like heaven and earth! Yang and Han's army was basically a mob, with only two thousand that could really fight, and the rest were in a mess, with many old, weak, women and children among them. And Cao Cao's elite soldiers are an invincible and victorious army that can fight all over Guandong! Defeating Yuan Shu, defeating Lu Bu, forcing Tao Qian, and taking away the Yellow Turban, the people are strong and the horses are strong, and the Tibetan capital cannot hide the spirit of forcing people. This time, a large group of 10,000 to 20,000 people gathered again, and as soon as they appeared, they were a bit eye-catching!
Liu Xie now understood why Cao Cao waited in the east of Luyang City for nearly a day before driving over! It turns out that he wanted to mobilize more troops to put more pressure on the emperor and the court!
He is indeed a traitor!
The little emperor looked at the Cao family's army that was slowly approaching without saying a word. The officials, Yu Lin, and Hu Ben who were waiting in formation also held their breath and just looked at the scene in front of them. They have some strength now, but if they want to compete with the heroes of Guandong like Cao Cao, they are really far behind. If Cao Cao wants to use violence, I'm afraid... he can only rely on the emperor's "magic"!
I wonder how powerful this emperor's "magic" is?
The time waiting for Cao Cao to approach seemed short, but also seemed long. Just as the officials following the emperor became more and more nervous, they were almost out of breath. Suddenly, a long order came from among the more than a thousand armored cavalry surrounding Cao Cao. The Cao family's cavalry reined in their horses one after another. A row of strong horses neighed for a long time before they kept their pace. The large groups of infantry behind them also stopped one after another. Cao Cao, who was walking at the front of the team, got off his horse and, surrounded by a group of well-armored generals and civilian officials such as Dong Zhao, Ding Chong, Guo Jia, etc., swaggered towards the emperor. The large group of cavalry and infantry behind them just stood still.
At this end, all the civil and military officials below the young emperor Liu Xie were relieved!
Cao Cao probably didn't want to break up with the emperor yet. He brought so many troops here just to demonstrate to the emperor and officials, and at the same time increase his bargaining chips with the emperor!
When he was still five or six steps away from the emperor, Cao Cao stopped moving forward, and together with his civil servants and generals, they made a bow to Liu Xie who was still riding on his horse: "Sili Xiaowei, Yanzhou Mu, Lu Shangshu Province, Lord Fei Ting has honored his mission and has defeated Yang and Han, the two thieves’ lair in Liang County, and captured all their family members!”
It turns out that Cao Cao was not only waiting for his own reinforcements to arrive, but also waiting for news that Liang County had been breached!
The family members in Liang County City are not only those of Yang Feng and Han Xian, but also the family members of other Baibo officers and soldiers such as Xu Huang and Feng Qi! Now their family members are in Cao Cao's hands...the bargaining chip is not small!
Hearing this, Liu Xie smiled and said: "Meng De, you have made a great contribution this time! If you hadn't led the troops to raid Yang Feng and Han Xian's lair, how could I have recruited their Bai Bo elites so easily? After such a great contribution, How can you do this without heavy rewards? I want to make you a general!"
Cao Cao quickly declined and said: "In the Tianjia, I have only done a little merit, how can I dare to hold the position of a general? Please take back my life from the Tianjia."
This time the refusal was not firm enough! Cao Zhaoxiong really wants to be a general?
Liu Xie was a little surprised, but then he remembered that in history, Cao Zhaixiong really made himself a general after kidnapping the emperor.
At that time, Cao Cao also gave his elder brother Yuan a title slightly lower than that of the general. As a result, Yuan Shao was quite angry, so Cao Cao gave the general to Yuan Shao... It seems that Cao Cao wanted to pass the post of general. The position of general shows to the world that he is no longer Yuan Shao's younger brother!
For Liu Xie now, it is a good thing that Cao Yuan's friendship boat is about to capsize!
Thinking of this, Liu Xie smiled and said: "Meng De, your contribution is not trivial! Since I arrived in Luoyang, only Uncle Zhang Zhi and Meng De in Hanoi have led the troops to serve the king! And you also helped me conquer Yang Feng, There are more than a thousand Baibo troops under Han Xian, allowing me to rebuild the Yulin and Huben armies. With Yulin and Huben, I can sit back and relax in Luoyi. No one has established anything like this since Dong Zhuo's chaos. Great contribution. The post of general belongs to you!"
After listening to Liu Xie's words, Cao Cao already understood Liu Xie's price tag. There are two. One is to firmly capture the more than a thousand Baibo army, so Cao Cao has to hand over their families; the other is to return to Luoyang to become the "Emperor of Luoyi".
Cao Cao declined again and said: "I heard that the Tian family received the Heavenly Book from Emperor Gao in his dream, and learned the art of falling rocks and the art of bringing back the dead... With these two spells, it would be easy to defeat the two thieves Yang and Han. . The merits I have accomplished are really not worthy of the title of general. I sincerely ask the Tian family to take back my order!"
When Liu Xie heard this, he thought for a moment and realized that Cao Cao wanted to get to know him - did he admit that he had magic or not?
He immediately shook his head and said: "Although I was taught by Emperor Gao in a dream, I really don't know magic! I only know how to observe the sky, divination and some methods of saving lives and healing the wounded. The technique of falling rocks is the method of triggering flying rocks. It's not a magic. And bringing the dead back to life...but the person is not completely dead and can still be saved. This is not a magic."
Cao Cao seemed quite surprised. He looked at Liu Xie and asked, "Does the Tian family really know no magic?"
"No!" Liu Xie shook his head, "I really don't know magic... So without Meng De and you taking over Liang County, I wouldn't have been able to defeat Yang Feng and Han Xian at the gate of Luyang City."
Cao Cao declined again and said: "Tianjia, although I raided Liang County, I failed to capture Yang and Han Ni. I have not done my full work. I am afraid that these two thieves will cause trouble in the future."
Liu Xie smiled and said: "Mengde, I have already made up my mind that Yang Feng and Han Xian should not die in Luyang... they can live for another one or two years." He emphasized his tone, " Two years at most!”
Two years at most? This can be calculated accurately, but you still say you don’t understand magic?
When Cao Cao, the civil and military officials present, and the Huben and Yulin scholars heard Liu Xie's "prophecy", they all sympathized with Yang Feng and Han Xian. If they hear that they can only live for two years at most, then why should they be afraid of death every day? There will be no happy days from now on...
Liu Xie laughed again and said: "Yang Feng and Han Xian are dead soon, and they will not be of much use to Yuan Gongdu. Let's just treat them as dead... Meng De, don't refuse to be a general anymore." It’s your post! You are now assisting the government, serving as the shepherd of Yanzhou locally, and also guarding Yingchuan County, Chen State, and Liang State in Yuzhou for the imperial court. You have a heavy responsibility and many things to do. If there is no shogunate, there will be no holiday. , it will be very inconvenient to manage, and I am afraid that it will miss important national events."
In fact, whether Cao Cao can open a palace in name or not, it does not affect his control over the army and subordinates - Boss Cao will take hostages!
However, Cao Cao had already completed the "three speeches" process, so he stopped being polite, and immediately gave Liu Xie a gift from heaven: "Then I will temporarily take over the post of general, and wait until I escort the Tian family back to Luoyang." After that, please ask the Heavenly Family to select another worthy person to serve as your minister."
Returning to Luoyang...Liu Xie finally heard what he wanted to hear most! I wonder if Cao Cao, the traitor, really wanted the court to return to Luoyang, or was he just "bullying the emperor"?
Of course, now is not the time to go to Luoyang, because you will starve if you go!
So Liu Xie asked Cao Cao: "Mengde, where is the eldest son of Liu Jingzhou? There is not much food in Luyang..."
Cao Cao smiled and said: "I really don't know where Liu Jingsheng's eldest son is... Aren't you proficient in sky observation and divination in Tianjia? How about a hexagram?"
