After capturing Fenggao, Cao Cao did not enter the city, but stayed outside the city for three days. During these three days, he read poetry, practiced penmanship, tasted wine and danced with swords, as if living in seclusion in the mountains, completely ignoring worldly affairs. No matter how much hustle and bustle there was outside the camp, it had nothing to do with him. Just wait for the sun to rise and set, and the lights go out. In the middle of the night on the third day, there is silence outside the camp, as if it is outside the world. Except for the cry of the owl, nothing can be heard.
In the early morning of the fourth day, all the troops of Cao's army returned home. However, what is different from when they went there is that the officers have a lot more gold and silver ornaments on their bodies, and the soldiers have some brocade and bacon hanging on their bodies. What's more, there are several white skulls stuck together. Wear it around your neck as a necklace. Although the scene was strange and gloomy, the murderous intent in Sergeant Cao's soldiers was much lessened.
About half a day before the new military meeting, the officers gathered in front of the camp gate and prepared a dozen boxes. Everyone threw some of their belongings into the boxes. Soon, the boxes were filled to the brim. Gold and silver are as dazzling as water.
Dian Wei came over at this time and saw that there were about ten boxes. He couldn't help but wonder: "Feng Gao has been fighting for three years. How can there be so much property in the city?" Someone smiled and replied: "Those are hidden in the government office." It’s not easy to find out the treasure after I killed three people!” Dian Wei also laughed when he heard this, nodded and said, “It’s a good thing you didn’t keep it for yourself, Cao Shijun will remember your love!”
"How dare you, how dare you", amidst a bunch of polite voices, Dian Wei collected all the boxes and dragged them to a special tent. Then he came back and said to them: "Don't relax, you guys, there is still a battle to be fought. The general's envoy has already arrived He came and said he wanted to accompany our army." Everyone was suddenly stunned, and someone asked: "The general has never sent a supervisory army before, why did he send someone here this time?"
Liu Bei did not want to send anyone to supervise the army. After receiving the good news from Cao Cao, he read the end of the letter and saw Cao Cao writing grandly: "You little thief, you are determined to die. You rebelled throughout the city and refused to surrender despite repeated persuasion. In order to demonstrate the virtue of our ancestors, we punished him for his treason and respected the world. As a last resort, he beheaded him as a cloth and slaughtered his corpse as a memorial..." He couldn't help but turn pale with fright. He stopped all other things and summoned his subordinates. Discuss this matter.
"The Sword Comes"
Everyone thought that it was true that the people of Fenggao City resisted stubbornly, but the massacre of the city by Cao's army was even more shocking. If Cao Cao is allowed to continue to act and the news reaches Linzi, the already hostile people of Qi will probably unite even more, and the city will naturally become more difficult to attack, and long-term peace and stability in the future will be even more difficult. As a last resort, Liu Bei decided to send Zhu Hao to Cao Ying, hoping that he could accompany the army to stop him.
Zhu Hao set out immediately after receiving the order. Under the guidance of three Taishan thieves, he crossed Mount Tai from Laiwu and reached Cao Jun's camp in two days. While riding along, we could see deserted villages and crumbling walls everywhere, but they looked old. The walls were covered with green vines, which made Zhu Hao feel very sad. After approaching Fenggao, headless corpses could be seen everywhere along the path, exuding a disgusting fishy smell, which made Zhu Hao feel a little more upset.
Therefore, in the early morning of the second day of May, Zhu Hao rushed to the Chinese army camp in the south of Fenggao City without rest, and immediately asked to see Cao Cao, the Yanzhou shepherd and former general. When Cao Cao heard that Zhu Hao was coming, he quickly came out of his tent to greet him. At this time, Cao Cao was forty-three years old, and his cheeks and beard were already white. However, he was full of energy and his eyes were as agile as a dragon. He was full of wisdom and inviolability. He wore a robe with a square collar and wide sleeves, but he wore a leather armor underneath. He had a long sword on the left and right sides of his waist. He wore a pair of deerskin boots on his feet. He walked steadily on the wet mud. Although his appearance was not outstanding, his words and deeds were... It’s hard to find the best in Chinese characters, and his style is truly outstanding.
The two sat down and talked. Zhu Hao was originally the second son of Zhu Jun, the willing cavalry general. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zhu Jun had been Cao Cao's superior and had a lot of support in the war. After Zhu Jun returned to the capital after observing his filial piety, his glory suddenly faded. Cao Cao was also one of the few old relatives who often visited Zhu Jun's house, so the two were considered old acquaintances and had a close friendship. Therefore, when Cao Cao called this newcomer to the Jinyang Bafu who had lost his chariot-riding father, he did not need to be polite and unfamiliar as "Zhu Jun", but only used his courtesy name "Zhong Ming" to commemorate him, revealing a bit of the kindness and expectations of the elders for the younger generations.
Zhu Hao knew that since the death of his father Zhu Jun, all the famous generals of the previous generation had withered away. Among the countless famous generals in the world now, Cao Cao is definitely among the best. In the court, the emperor originally relied most heavily on Lu Bu, the pastor of Liangzhou. However, in recent years, Cao Cao regained Yanzhou alone and won many battles in Qingxu. His reputation overshadowed Lu Bu, so the emperor appreciated him even more.
It is said that there was such a questioning in the palace.
The emperor asked Chen Chong, "In terms of famous generals in the world, who can be called the best, excluding the master and the general?"
Chen Chong replied that a ruler has its own strengths and weaknesses, and so do generals. Gongsun Zan is good at training troops but not good at strategy, Lu Bu is good at fighting bravely but not good at maneuvering, Yuan Shao is fickle but not good at resolute decision. Only Cao Cao is brave and dignified, and he is a rare genius in ancient and modern times.
Therefore, Zhu Hao was actually quite honored to meet Cao Cao. The two started talking about old things in Luoyang, and they talked for more than an hour before they knew it.
Cao Cao asked about the situation of his overlord's government under Linzi City, and Zhu Hao told him the truth. Bafu's progress under Linzi City was not smooth. Jimo in the east repeatedly sent reinforcements to harass them. Although Bafu defeated them one by one, they were only dispersed and the results were not many. As a result, Jimo was still able to make a comeback. This seriously affected the progress of Bafu's siege, so much so that after one month, Dongpingan City on the east bank of the Zi River had not yet been captured, let alone Linzi City on the west bank.
Cao Cao heard something was wrong, and asked: "Be defeated without being defeated. This is something only an old soldier can do. But in the battle of Surabaya, the elite of the Qi people had been wiped out by the generals. How could the Qi people have such elites?" ?" Seeing Cao Cao hitting the nail on the head, Zhu Hao couldn't help being surprised. He felt a little more admiration in his heart, and nodded and said: "Cao Cao is right. Our army was also puzzled by this a few days ago. Fortunately, we captured a few of them a few days ago. The prisoners, after being tortured, learned that reinforcements were sent from the north and came by boat. There are now two thousand people, and in a few days, there will be three thousand more."
Didn't Yuan Shao send troops directly? Cao Cao suddenly nodded, thinking that he really didn't dare to openly break with the court at first, so he used this method to delay time. He was silent for a while, and then said: "Then Zhongming is here, I'm afraid he wants me to attack Licheng."
Licheng (today's Jinan) is the northern gate of Linzi, bordering Jishui to the north and Taishan Mountains to the south. The terrain is exactly like Fenggao. However, unlike Fenggao, compared with the 200-foot-wide Jishui River in the north of Licheng City, Wenshui River is no more than a small river, and the mountains that Licheng relies on are not just a remnant vein, but a main vein that is more than ten times as majestic.
"Yes!" Zhu Hao sighed: "As long as Cao Gong can conquer Licheng, there will be a flat river from Yanzhou to Qingzhou, and there will be no obstacles. At that time, Cao Gong can drive Shishui directly and attack Linzi from the north and south with Bafu. Linzi will not be difficult Come on! Even if Yuan’s army is in the north, do they still dare to bypass Duke Cao and travel freely between the lakes and seas? The general said that as long as Duke Cao can conquer Licheng, this attack will be the first in merit!"
Cao Cao laughed when he heard this. He stroked his beard and said modestly: "We are all working under the general, so why do we care about the credit?"
Unexpectedly, before Zhu Hao finished speaking, he interrupted Cao Cao and said, "When the general sent me here, there was one thing I wanted to remind Duke Cao."
"What's the matter?"
"The general said that since the resurgence of Emperor Shizu, the imperial court has often gone too far in killing people without accumulating evil virtues, which has led to dissatisfaction among the people and frequent rebellions. Now that there is chaos, it is time to bring order to the chaos, so I hope that Duke Cao can follow Xiao He's example , Cao Shen and other wise ministers of this dynasty, put the people first, put morality first, and do not want to massacre the city again. The general sent me here to supervise with me in the army. "
Cao Cao glanced at Zhu Hao, his expression did not change, he just smiled lightly and said: "I don't want to cause more trouble. This time the city was washed, it was really because the enemies were stubborn and refused to surrender. If the city could be easily captured, who would? How about ordering the soldiers to fight to the death? It doesn't matter, Zhongming is coming soon, so you might as well just follow me. After lunch, I will hold a military meeting, so I can tell the generals about this."
Seeing that Cao Cao had no objection, Zhu Hao breathed a sigh of relief and joked to Cao Cao: "Being able to see the former general's military discussion is something that many military men in the world can only dream of. I can say that I am extremely honored!"
In the afternoon, the generals of Cao's army gathered together. After Cao Cao introduced Zhu Hao to the generals, he immediately began to prepare for the siege of Licheng. After two hours of deliberation, they broke out of camp and set off early the next morning. Zhu Hao was astonished by his speed.
It is now May, and it is the season of heavy rain in both Yanzhou and Henan provinces, and the water in Jishui has also risen accordingly. Cao Cao ordered Chen Gong to transfer some ships from Juye, and he led the army north to Jibei. On the eighth day of May, Cao's army arrived at Lu County and met up with the ships sent by Chen Gong. He took Cao Ren as the vanguard and divided 3,000 of his men to board the ship and sail eastward, while he led the army behind and slowly moved behind.
The Xia Current was rapid, and Cao Ren followed it down, crossing a hundred miles in one day to reach the north of Licheng City, which attracted the Qi people from Licheng to come out to attack. However, the soldiers led by Cao Ren mostly wore leather armor, and the Qi people were in a hurry and could not defeat them, so they had to retreat back to the city. , always pay attention to the movements of Cao Jun outside the city. At this time, one day and night had passed. When Cao Ren saw that the people had retreated to the city, he suddenly left the ship with great fanfare and marched toward the west. The people of Qi thought it was a fraud and did not dare to act rashly.
As a result, Cao Cao led his main force to Zhu'a, west of Licheng. The defenders of Zhu'a originally planned to resist, but when they saw an enemy army coming from the east beating drums, they were panicked and at a loss. At this time, Cao Ren wrote a letter of persuasion to surrender on white silk, had several copies copied, tied to arrow shafts, and ordered his trusted knights to shoot into the city. He claimed that Licheng had fallen and asked them to open the city and surrender, otherwise the whole city would be massacred.
Wandering with no way out, the leader of General Zhu Ashou committed suicide and died. Then his men opened the door and dedicated the city, and gave his head to Cao Cao, hoping to save the life of the city.
Cao Cao agreed, and then left the money and grain in the city, expelled all the people from the city, and left only a thousand people to guard the city. He continued eastward and arrived at the gate of Licheng on May 11th.
The defenders of Licheng did not expect it to arrive so quickly, and before they had time to make relevant arrangements, Cao Cao completed the siege of Licheng.
