"The Marquis of Yanling has just arrived in Xudu and is currently outside the city."
Full of favor reports.
"What's going on?"
Yang Ling was a little strange.
Marquis of Yanling was Cao Zhang's title. When Cao Cao passed away, it was reasonable for him to come to Xudu to attend the funeral.
"It's just that he brought an army of ten thousand..."
Man Chong looked embarrassed.
After hearing this, Yang Ling's expression became serious.
Since Cao Ang did not die in battle on the banks of the Feishui River, there was no dispute between Cao Pi and Cao Zhi.
Cao Zhi had been obsessed with music, calligraphy and painting for so many years and had no interest in government affairs.
But besides Cao Zhi, Cao Pi actually has another competitor, and that is Cao Zhang!
Cao Cao had talked with Yang Ling in private, and he expressed his admiration for Cao Zhang in words.
After all, Cao Zhang has enjoyed fighting tigers since he was a child. He has extraordinary arm strength and can be considered a tiger general.
Since becoming an adult, Cao Zhang has not followed Yang Ling to fight many wars, but he has not been idle either.
Whenever there was any rebellion in the Han Dynasty, Cao Zhang personally led his troops to fight against it.
Compared with Cao Pi, his prestige in the army is quite high!
But later, Cao Cao considered that Cao Zhang had a brave temperament and was only suitable for leading troops in war, not for running a country, so he finally gave up the idea of making him his heir apparent.
Not long after Cao Cao left, Cao Zhang wanted to enter the city with his army. This clearly had other intentions.
Man Chong and others neither dared to stop nor let Cao Zhang and others in, so they had to find Yang Ling, who was in charge.
"I understand, please take me there."
Yang Ling ordered.
"General please!"
Man Chong bowed his hands and ran towards the city gate with Yang Ling.
Xudu city gate.
Tens of thousands of soldiers and horses stood outside the city, but there was no other sound, only the sound of flags.
The soldiers on top of the city who were responsible for guarding the capital looked quite nervous at the moment.
Cao Zhang, who was riding a tall horse with a yellow beard and a sturdy figure, stepped forward and said in a loud and authentic voice,
"My father passed away, and I came all the way to attend the funeral. General Yuan Si stopped me outside the city. What is the meaning of this?"
"If Marquis Yanling wants to enter, he can of course do so, but these troops want to enter the city, but they cannot."
Han Hao, who was originally Cao Cao's confidant general, stood firmly in front of Cao Zhang.
"What a joke! These soldiers were once my father's elite soldiers. Now that my father has passed away, they want to express their condolences. Isn't it possible?"
Cao Zhang asked with an indifferent expression.
As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers behind him suddenly took a step forward and shouted in unison,
"Enter the city!"
"Enter the city!"
"Enter the city!"
Although Han Hao had participated in countless battles with Cao Cao and had seen strong winds and waves, he couldn't help but secretly complain in his heart.
If there was a conflict between the two sides, his little Chinese army would not be able to stop Cao Zhang's elite men who had fought many battles.
Man Boning went to invite the general, why didn't he come back?
At this moment, a steady voice came from the city gate tower,
"Who dares to make noise here!"
Strangely enough, the voice of the visitor was not loud, but it was loud enough to drown out the shouts of Cao Zhang's soldiers.
Cao Zhang squinted his eyes, and when he saw the person coming clearly, he looked shocked!
He quickly jumped off his horse and walked forward with a smile.
"Brother-in-law, why are you here?"
"I heard that Ziwen is coming back, so I will naturally come to greet you."
Yang Ling smiled slightly.
"Brother-in-law, you are too polite. What virtue and ability can I have to allow you to come and greet me?"
Cao Zhang smiled slightly flatteringly.
As a military commander, the person he admires most, besides his father Cao Cao, is Yang Ling.
Killing Lu Bu, defeating Yuan Shu, injuring Yuan Shao, defeating Wuhuan... this series of achievements can definitely be considered as a great achievement!
Cao Zhang could deny face to Xia Houyuan and Xia Houdun, but he would never dare to deny face to Yang Ling.
This is because of Yang Ling's ability and prestige!
"Now that you're back, go and offer incense to your father. Why are you standing still?"
Yang Ling sighed.
Upon hearing this, Cao Zhang's eyes instantly turned red.
He sniffed and muttered,
"I wanted to go in, but General Yuan Si stopped my men and wouldn't let them enter the city!"
Yang Ling glanced at Cao Zhang's army and said to Han Hao reproachfully,
"General Yuan Si, the soldiers of Marquis Yanling are also loyal to King Wei and want to express their condolences. Why did you stop them?"
"General Zhengnan, this is really against the rules."
Han Hao said with some embarrassment.
Yang Ling thought for a while, turned to Cao Zhang and said,
"General Yuan Si is right, this is indeed against the rules."
"Besides, King Wei has just passed away, and His Majesty and all the civil and military officials are going to express their condolences."
"If you bring a large army into the city and scare them, you will be in trouble."
"How about you leave the army outside the city first, and then take the soldiers to express condolences when King Wei is buried in peace?"
Yang Ling's words were impeccable.
Not only did he give Cao Zhang enough face, he also didn't let Han Hao break the rules.
After Cao Zhang heard this, his expression was gloomy and he didn't say a word.
Yang Ling was not in a hurry, just waiting for his answer.
Historically, after Cao Cao died in Luoyang, Cao Zhang also arrived before Cao Pi, intending to snatch his brother's right to inherit the throne.
At that time, he asked Jia Kui for Cao Cao's seal, but he was severely rejected by Jia Kui. In the end, Cao Zhang did not dare to fight.
Before coming, Yang Ling had also heard from Man Chong that Cao Zhang marched for two days and nights in a hurry to get back to Xudu.
If you say that you have no different intentions, you won’t believe it even if you beat Yang Ling to death!
After a long time, Cao Zhang said in a low voice,
"Ziwen obeys my brother-in-law in everything!"
Although he is extremely brave, he is not a brainless idiot.
There are tens of thousands of Chinese troops defending Xudu. If they really want to fight, no matter how elite their troops are, they will not be able to capture Xudu.
Even if he captures Xu Capital, he still cannot secure his position as King of Wei!
Besides, Yang Ling was blocking the army. With his status and prestige, Cao Zhang's army would not dare to take action.
Therefore, after some thought, Cao Zhang finally had no impulse.
"That's good."
Yang Ling smiled and nodded, and said to Han Hao,
"General Yuan Si, please help arrange the troops of Marquis Yanling, and be sure to prepare good food and wine for them!"
Seeing that the turmoil was resolved by Yang Ling in an understatement, Han Hao also breathed a sigh of relief and quickly responded,
"This is easy to say. Please rest assured, General Zhengnan and Marquis Yanling!"
"Let's go, Ziwen, let's enter the city."
Yang Ling took Cao Zhang's arm and walked into the city as if nothing had happened just now.
When the two arrived at Prince Wei's Mansion, Cao Zhang first knelt down in front of Cao Cao's memorial tablet, crying so hard that he was out of breath, as if he was going to faint.
Everyone on the side quickly grabbed him, fearing that he would be too sad and break his body from crying.
Yang Ling saw it and sighed in his heart, the father-son relationship between Boss Cao and Cao Zhang is also quite deep.
When Boss Cao competed with Liu Bei for Hanzhong, Liu Bei ordered his adopted son Liu Feng to go down the mountain to challenge.
