Yuan Shu's life is really difficult now, even though he had previously formed an alliance with Liu Bei and Liu Biao to fight against Cao Cao. But the common resistance is just that the three families do not attack each other and attack Cao Cao from three directions.
But whoever Cao Cao wanted to fight, they couldn't stop him. Lao Cao was naturally quite dissatisfied with Yuan Shu. He had been beating him before, and now Guojiang would definitely fight him back. Furthermore, he also planned to win over Liu Bei and Liu Biao, and wanted to show his ability to use his full strength. Yuan Shu was the only one who needed to be beaten.
So for Liu Bei and Liu Biao, he just divided his forces to fight and defend. For Yuan Shu, he fought with all his strength. From crossing the river in the spring, we fought until autumn. We fought for half a year, winning consecutive battles and victories. Yuan Shu has been defeated from Chaisang in the north of Yuzhang to Gan County (Ganzhou City) in the south, and further south is Jiaozhi. That is Shi Xie's territory, and it can be said that there is almost no way to retreat.
And because of his failure, there were not many Yangzhou wealthy families left to support him. The civil and military officials were okay, but they also had their own agendas. There were not many troops in hand, and Yuan Shu knew clearly that he was finished.
However, his current situation is much better than that of Yuan Shao, and considering the situation of his descendants, he finally chose to surrender. At this time, he had nothing left, his civil and military affairs were different, his troops were not many, and Lao Cao did not like him. But there is one thing that can guarantee his wealth, and that is the imperial seal that Sun Ce used to exchange troops.
Of course Sun Ce was very unhappy and even had the idea of killing Yuan Shu. However, considering the reputation issue, I decided not to do that in the end.
He wanted to be independent before, but was beaten back by Liu Bei. With the wars in the past few years, Sun Ce's position has become higher and higher. Now he has retreated all the way to Gan County. It can almost be said that his strength is the only remaining soldier. The strongest.
It would be fine to say that he had never made the decision by himself before, but he had been the boss himself, and unlike Yuan Shu, who had achieved success in his career, and then was beaten back by Liu Bei, of course he would not accept it.
Once ambition grows, it is basically impossible to take it back. Sun Ce recognized that Lao Cao was a man of great talent and great strategy, but once he was under Cao Cao's command, he would be like this for the rest of his life, and Sun Ce knew this even more.
So he naturally left Yuan Shu, taking with him more than 10,000 soldiers, his father's old troops, and his good friend Zhou Yu who wanted to start a business with him.
They continued south and attacked Shixie.
The purpose is to start a business in Jiaozhi while Cao Cao has no time to pay attention to them.
Lao Cao really had no time to pay attention to them. After all, he wanted to establish a united front against Wang Yan and study how to force Liu Biao and Liu Zhang to submit. What's more important is to farm the land diligently and train troops honestly to cope with Wang Yan's move south. He didn't say a word about Sun Ce going to fight Shi Xie with his troops.
As for the surrendered Yuan Shu and his civil and military personnel, except for Yuan Shu, everyone else did not treat them harshly, and they were considered important. It is certain that he has a pattern, but the more important reason is that if they don't do things well for Cao Cao, or if they repeat it later, they will have no chance.
Because in today's world, Cao Cao has only one opponent, and that is Wang Yan from the north. Any one of these people would be dead to Wang Yan. This is a truth that everyone understands. Otherwise, they would still have the ability to join Cao Cao, and the treatment would actually be better when they get to Wang Yan's side.
No one will deny that Wang Yan is a hero of his generation. He has the overall situation to match and is an absolutely good boss. Of course, these words were not said for no reason, Lu Bu was right there. Such a player can now lead an elite team, so there is no need to question...
Chaisang (Jiujiang City) is a serious place in the south of the Yangtze River, but even if the river water is not frozen, it is not very warm. What's more, today is an ice age, and the overall temperature is dropping. Therefore, even in the serious Jiangnan area, winters are not warm and still very cold. And because there is enough moisture, it rains very frequently, so it is not easy to see the sun being warm.
The cold and dampness was so severe that my body felt uncomfortable. Lao Cao couldn't adapt to it. He didn't like the water and soil, so he felt wind and cold, which also caused a headache. It was extremely uncomfortable.
In the Prime Minister's Mansion, all the rooms were heated by floor heating. Someone lit a fire to keep warm and dry the room. Lao Cao, dressed in a single Sichuan brocade garment, was lying on a couch. There is an object in his hand, the size of a palm, with one corner inlaid with gold. It is the famous Heshi Bi, the national seal.
When Lao Cao reached this stage, he naturally didn't care about Yifang's seal. He understands better than anyone that power ultimately comes from strong soldiers and horses. After all, Liu Xie is his mascot. How could he not understand such a simple truth? Having this Fang Xi will not make him stronger, and without it, it will not make him lose strength.
But people in this era tend to believe in the theory of ghosts and gods, and there are also big and small magicians who are preaching these. So when this legendary seal came into his hands, Lao Cao was still very happy, because it represented his destiny.
No one doesn’t like nice words, and no one doesn’t like nice meanings. Just like when the left eye twitches, it means twitching, and when the right eye twitches, it means the orbicularis oculi muscle and facial nerve controlled by the brain are intermittent and involuntary clonic twitches. The left eye is superstitious, the right eye is scientific. People just like good omens, and there must be a reason for bad omens.
Lao Cao is naturally no exception, and he even needs to be more confident because he controls absolute power.
Xun Yu sat on his knees, sipping strong wine and eating peanuts that went with the wine...
How can Wang Yan only enjoy good things? They must be enjoyed by other wealthy people. Even if the current production of peanuts is not high, it still has to be sold, and it is quite expensive. This is overseas fairy food and must be hyped. Lao Cao and others were taken advantage of and used their money to subsidize agricultural doctors’ funds for improving seeds. From this point of view, Lao Cao and others have made countless merits.
In fact, there are fewer and fewer copper coins in circulation now. Businessmen increasingly recognize the general money under General Wang's rule, which is lightweight, stable and highly recognized. After all, all the general money is used in the north. With the exchange of business and trade, the general money is naturally more and more recognized.
It's not like the original princes never thought about printing their own money, but now they can't even print paper, let alone the special paper used to make money. Even if they did it, it would be in vain if the wealthy family didn't approve it and Wang Yan didn't exchange it with them.
Therefore, General Wang has now controlled the economy of various places to a considerable extent, but he has not used financial harvesting, because it will eventually be passed on to the people. Life is already difficult, and General Wang naturally cannot make the people's life even more difficult.
He took another sip of wine and ate a peanut. When the burning sensation in his chest and abdomen passed, he saw that Lao Cao had finished thinking and his mental state was much better. He was not as depressed as before. Xun Yu spoke.
"My lord, neither Liu Biao nor Liu Zhang are decisive people. Now that we have won over the Jing Yi wealthy family, all the hearts of the people are towards the lord. Although they are hesitant, they are forced by internal and external forces and have no choice but to comply sooner or later. Yu thinks, Things can be decided before spring.
As for Liu Bei, he did not reuse the powerful clans and had the support of the Mi family. However, although the powerful clans could not blackmail Liu Bei into acting, they had already shaken the people's hearts. However, Liu Bei had a sign of surrendering to Wang Yan. Wang Yan sent a warship to Guangling (Yangzhou City) and envoys crossed the river to secretly meet Liu Bei. Moreover, Liu Bei worked for Wang Yan in the past and had great hopes for the world. Liu Bei has not communicated with his lord until now, so he must want to join Wang Yan. "
Cao Cao squinted his eyes, tapped Tutu's temple with the warm horn of the jade seal, pondered for a long time, and said: "Wen Ruodang united with the wealthy families in Yangzhou to cause trouble and forced Liu Bei to make a quick decision. In addition, Cao Ren and Cao Hong of Guizhou led 50,000 troops and marched eastward. Danyang.”
"Yes, my lord."
"How about Zhang Lu of Hanzhong?"
Xun Yu shook his head: "I received a letter this morning. He said that Wang Yan's subordinate Guo Jia contacted him to persuade him to surrender, and led the army to pass Sanguan, and then went down to Yangping Pass in a battle to get a glimpse of Hanzhong. Therefore, Zhang Lu will surrender, and if he does not surrender, he will die. Now it is time to It is unknown whether he is asking for preferential treatment from Wang Yan or whether he has already surrendered."
As he said that, he sighed, "We can't march into Yizhou yet, Hanzhong is really far away. Let's control the Bashu gate. If the Northern Expedition is to be carried out in the future, it will be really difficult. Don't worry, my lord, I have gone to Xinyizhou, and I want it to be guarded." There are no opportunities for Wang Yan to take advantage of the passes such as Jianmen."
Even if Wang Yan doesn't have vision, he still has capable people under his command, and they all should know the importance of Hanzhong. Therefore, Cao Cao's camp had expected Zhang Lu's surrender to Wang Yan, but it was just a bit regretful.
The importance of Hanzhong is there. If they control Hanzhong, they can use Hanzhong as a springboard to take Chang'an directly. Even if Wang Yan is tightly guarded, they can also go north to Bingzhou and look for opportunities to enter the Central Plains. As for the food problem, it is not a problem. As we all know, the people are the most prosperous under Wang Yan's rule. Every family has a surplus of food. Life is good, and there are supplies all the way.
In the original process, when Zhuge Liang went on the Northern Expedition and left Qishan six times, he used Hanzhong as a springboard to break through, trying to penetrate Cao Wei's rear defense, but he failed. If it succeeds, it is impossible to say that there will be a real comeback, the Han Dynasty will be rejuvenated, and the country's destiny will continue for another two hundred years.
Lao Cao didn't say anything. He just said "yes" and said he understood. Then he waved his hand and told Xun Yu to step back, leaving him to suffer alone.
Although he is getting stronger and stronger, Lao Cao no longer has the confidence he had when he just killed Yuan Shao. This is because when he retreated, Wang Yan lightly sent out capable generals. After a brief exchange, he defeated Yuan Shao across the board. lose. But when he was ready to mobilize troops to teach Wang Yan the art of war, they just launched a simple siege and advance, leaving him no room to display, and he didn't dare to mobilize if the side was wrong.
That feeling was too suffocating. Sometimes when I think about it carefully, it’s really disappointing.
Fortunately, Lao Cao is very strong. He has a strong heart and has not yet been defeated by the horror in front of him. The only people who can kill him are the army and push...
The fact is indeed as Xun Yu said, Liu Bei wanted to surrender to Wang Yan, and Zhang Lu had even arrived in Luoyang.
Compared with Liu Bei who had friendship with Wang Yan, Zhang Lu had to surrender purely due to the situation. Because Guo Jia was very ungrateful in martial arts, he first sent Zhang Liao and Zhao Yun to capture Yangping Pass. The soldiers and horses first stationed themselves in the small basin of Hanzhong, and then sent a letter to Zhang Lu. What should Zhang Lu do?
If he had asked Liu Zhang for help, why would he have rebelled against Liu Yan? In addition to Liu Zhang, there are barbarians in the mountains, and those barbarians are naturally even more hopeless.
Guo Jia's letter to him was not very gentle. It was very clear. The general idea of the translation was that the general heard that he was quite lenient towards the people and gave him a chance. If he didn't surrender, he would fight quickly or surrender. What nonsense, your patience is limited, if you don’t get a reply within a month, you won’t fight, and you won’t vote, then start attacking and kill him directly.
He had to vote.
After experiencing serious damage, Luoyang is not prosperous today. Even after some repairs, it still looks dilapidated. Even the traces of Dong Zhuo's burning of Luoyang can still be seen.
However, new hope sprouted here. General Wang moved his capital to Luoyang and made it clear that he would make it his capital here in the future. A new round of construction was beginning here. Businessmen from various families have already bought land and built shops in Luoyang. On the east and west sides of the imperial city, there is a boss's construction site on each side, and the clanging sounds inside never stop.
There are also various buildings under construction on both sides of Zhuque Street facing the imperial city. I heard that this will be the offices of officials from various ministries in the future. There are also various other half-finished sculptures, which look very majestic at first glance. Even on the walls of the Imperial City, a bunch of wall coverings were cut off, as if to create reliefs.
In short, there are construction sites everywhere inside and outside the city, and there are people working and transporting goods everywhere. Even in the snowy winter, there are people working everywhere. However, although people are cold, they are working in full swing and noisy Very.
The noise of the people was incompatible with this dilapidated city, but it was also exceptionally harmonious.
Zhang Lu walked out of the large post, stepped on the thin snow on the ground, and got on his horse with a soldier. The horse trotted on the wide Zhuque Street, its iron-nailed hooves trampling on the big bluestone, and headed towards the imperial city.
Zhuque Street is nine miles long, running east-west and leading directly to the imperial city. Guanyi Station is at the end of the nine miles. Just looking at the buildings on both sides of the street and the half-finished sculpture in the middle of the street, Zhang Lu had already thought of how shocking and spectacular the road in the future would be, and what a powerful empire it would be.
He had been to Luoyang, the imperial capital, before. If he didn't come for a stroll, he would feel like he had never seen the world. That was when he was young. In comparison, he felt that Luoyang now was even more magnificent...
Zhang Lu looked at the tall imperial palace wall and was puzzled to see that the wall was in dilapidated condition, with only simple repairs and no sign of renovation. "May I ask, why has no one renovated this city wall?"
"The outer city wall has not been renovated." The soldier smiled and said, "The general has already said that we will fight outside the territory and not cause chaos inside. The city wall only protects the nobles, not the common people, so don't worry."
Feeling the endless pride in the soldiers' words, Zhang Lu turned his hands towards the imperial city very wisely: "General Gao Yi."
The soldier gave Zhang Lu a look that said he was sensible, turned around and galloped towards the imperial city: "Follow me into the city."
Zhang Lu looked up at the city wall again, put his legs under the horse's belly, and followed the soldiers into the wide open vermilion gate. I also lamented in my heart that Wang Yan was born in Guizhou Province, and there were no rules at all in the imperial city with weapons and horses...
As the soldier rode to the main hall where the study was written, the warmth of spring greeted him as soon as he opened the door. In the southeast corner, he saw General Wang, dressed in single clothes and with his hair disheveled, sitting alone and reading a book.
Immediately, he quickly walked over and grabbed the ground with his head: "Zhang Lu, Hanzhong, pays homage to General Tianwu."
Wang Yan had already taken a look at Zhang Lu when he came in. He was a well-maintained fat man who was over 1.7 meters tall. After all, he is the tenth grandson of Zhang Liang, the grandson of Zhang Daoling, the ancestor of Tianshi Taoism. There is an inheritance of righteousness, and it is wrong to maintain it poorly.
The bags under my eyes are a little swollen and the circles under my eyes are a little dark. It looks like I haven't had a good rest for a long time. You can figure out the reason by thinking about it with your feet. It wasn't because he was frightened by General Wang.
"Get up, sit down and talk." Wang Yan waved his hand and put down the book in his hand.
"Thank you, General." Zhang Lu thanked him loudly, carefully and uprightly sitting on the chair opposite Wang Yan, looking at his nose and heart, holding his breath, and his head was already sweating.
"Why is Gong Qi sweating so much?" Wang Yan smiled and poured a cup of tea and put it in front of him.
"Back to the general, the general is a heavenly being, and Lu is a mortal. The overwhelming power of heaven is unbearable, so he is sweating profusely."
Zhang Lu wasn't lying. As soon as he came in and met Wang Yan's flat gaze, he felt extremely powerful and under too much pressure.
Of course this was Wang Yan's intention. Zhang Lu was a cultivator and his mysterious sixth sense was much stronger than ordinary people. Wang Yan was just trying to scare him, but he hadn't yet unleashed his murderous intent. For the evil he had done, maybe the Lord of Hell would have to light a cigarette for him.
He was definitely not that arrogant. To put it bluntly, it was just that Zhang Lu could not control his own destiny. He was uneasy, restless, had not rested well, and his energy and spirit were unstable. Wang Yan put on airs, and his strong self-confidence was a shock to Zhang Lu. If he showed hostility, he would be releasing murderous intent.
"Don't worry. Since you understand the situation and surrender to me, I will definitely make you rich and peaceful."
Wang Yan took a sip of tea and continued, "You are a descendant of Liuhou and the grandson of Zhang Ling. You govern the people of Hanzhong according to dogma, and there are many believers among the people. I intend to establish a sect between Huashan and your Zhang family. The Zhang family needs to raise the funds for the construction of the Taoist court by yourself. The Zhang family can do business, enter Wenchang Pavilion, but cannot join the army as an official. What do you think?"
Zhang Luteng stood up immediately, took a few steps back, knelt down and kowtowed: "Mr. Zhang, thank you General for your kindness."
"Gongqi Dao is not stable, so he is a bit impatient." Wang Yan's faint voice sounded, "Your religious rules and teachings should be revised until they are in line with my laws."
"What the general said is true, it must be so."
"All the books collected by the Zhang family are sent to Luoyang. At that time, the bookshop will print them into books and give you a copy of the Zhang family." Wang Yan was indeed a little curious and wanted to see what the Zhang family's family history could do.
"Zhang just obeys the orders of the general." What can Zhang Lu say? He had no choice.
"Just go."
Zhang Lu, who had not raised his head, kowtowed again and said, "Thank you, General."
He stood up, stepped back, and then turned around and left.
When he got out of the door, looking at the sky hazy with snow and feeling the coldness of the snowflakes falling on his skin, Zhang Lu let out a long breath...
I would like to express my daily gratitude to the good brothers who vote monthly for their support.
Thank you to all the brothers who recommended me for your support,
Thanks to the big brothers who read silently for their support.
