After getting together with Guan Yu, Chen Chong was extremely happy. For the first time, he put aside all chores and made time to be alone with Yunchang. While the two were having a rest together, they were talking about the many experiences they had experienced since their separation, as if they had returned to the time when they had just met when they were young. Only then did Chen Chong realize that Yunchang's experience after being captured was legendary.
After the Bohai War, Cao Cao had a different view of Guan Yu and tried to persuade Guan Yu to surrender several times, but to no avail. In desperation, he was imprisoned together with many Han prisoners. By the beginning of October, nearly 60,000 prisoners were divided into 13 groups by Cao's army and transferred to Fanyang, Hanchang, Lingshou, Gaoyi, Xiangguo, Xindu, Nanhe, Handan, Guantao, Ganling, Pingyuan, Leling and Dongguang, and Guan Yu was escorted to Handan.
During their time as prisoners of war in Handan, Guan Yu and his men worked hard on the fields, cut firewood, and even carried charcoal to forge iron, all of which were extremely tiring manual labor. After so much hard work every day, there was very little food: the county government only distributed one piece of Hu cake to each person every day. After eating it, the Han soldiers felt empty in less than two hours. If they asked for more, they would be beaten severely. Many people They had to dig up root ferns in the wild to survive.
So in November, frost and snow fell, and the county government placed them in a deserted village. The thin walls of the village had broken roofs, making it extremely difficult to live in. However, the prisoners were dressed in single clothes and had nowhere to go. They could only huddle in the house and hug each other to keep warm. But there was no firewood and no fire to eat. By December, hundreds died of cold and exhaustion, and even Guan Yu was suffering.
Fortunately, there was a local celebrity named Liu Shao who admired Guan Yu a lot. The local people often remembered Guan Yu's achievements in pacifying the Yellow Turbans ten years ago, so they secretly sent him food, clothing, wine and meat from time to time. After Guan Yu received them, he distributed them to the most hungry and cold among his subordinates, and he managed to survive the winter.
The following year, this year, spring came. When the county government learned that the army had suffered a setback in Dingtao, it treated Guan Yu and others a little better. Although they still did not receive new clothes, they at least had enough food every day and would no longer starve. Guan Yu also met many heroes and knights in the local area, such as Feng Youjie of Julu, Zhao Zikai of Yiyang, Li Boqin of Quliang, etc. They often made friends and came to compete with Guan Yu in martial arts and discuss heroes, which was banned by the county government. You can't stop it, you just have to let it go in the end.
As soon as the time turned to May, just when Guan Yu was about to get used to local life, the county government suddenly sent people to look for him and escorted Guan Yu into the city. At first, everyone thought that a prison order had been issued. The local scholars interceded for him, and Feng Youjie and others prepared to rob the prison. Suddenly, there was a rumble in the city, and the county magistrate had no choice but to ask Guan Yu to come forward for explanation. Only then did he realize that it was Cao Cao who had ordered it himself. He wanted to escort Guan Yu back to Xindu, but he had no intention of killing anyone.
Speaking of which, at this time, the capital of the Easterners was no longer Yecheng, but was moved to Xindu by Cao Cao. He had already discussed this matter with Xun You and Guo Jia: Yecheng, which was previously governed by the government, was not only close to Luoyang, but also adjacent to Shangdang, a close confidant of the Bafu. It could be said to be a place for military force. It could be a military capital, but it could not be governed by civilized people. Moreover, the Yuan family had been working hard in Yecheng for nearly ten years. The trees were big and deep-rooted, and they could not regain power without moving the capital. Therefore, after returning to the army in April, he started to move the capital.
As for why he moved the capital to Xindu, Cao Cao had three considerations: First, Xindu is located in Jizhou, extending in all directions, and the city is solid, and the people under his rule are prosperous. If the capital is built here, it will not be a waste of money; second, Xindu was the accompanying capital of the ancient Zhao Kingdom. The King of Zhao once supervised the construction of a sand platform here. It was ten feet high and was the highest in Hebei. If the city were to be located here, it would be in line with the prophecy that "those who succeed the Han Dynasty should be Tu Gao"; the third is to move the capital After that, Cao Cao still had to garrison the army for a long time and could not stay in the capital for a long time. Therefore, he had to be careful about chaos. If the capital was in Xindu, even if there was a rebellion, there would be no danger to defend. The power of blowing dust.
When Guan Yu and his men arrived in Xindu, the Qinghe Palace was being repaired in the city. A large number of Han prisoners walked on the road, carrying stones and huge trees for this purpose. Those who were exhausted and breathed were scolded and whipped by the soldiers. The hardship was far worse than that in Handan. Guan Yu could not help but watch the dying people being dragged into the pits where the bones were buried. When entering the city, some people even recognized him, but they were speechless but could not speak. Guan Yu was helpless and could only turn his eyes and close his eyes. This made him extremely stubborn. When talking about this matter, even when facing Chen Chong, he often said Silence for a while, unable to hide the sadness in my heart.
After entering the city, to Guan Yu's expectation, he was not imprisoned. Instead, he was kept in Cao Ren's mansion, and his daily diet consisted of fish, meat, wine, and honey, which was almost the same as Cao Ren's. It's just that Cao Ren didn't speak to him, and Cao Cao didn't come to see him for a long time, which made him particularly confused, but since he was a prisoner, there was no point in thinking too much. Guan Yu put aside his distracting thoughts and continued to practice martial arts besides eating every day.
Suddenly one day, Cao Ren suddenly added a maid for Guan Yu, saying that she was a girl bought from Qingzhou. This maid was so pitiful that even Guan Yu could not help but feel a little moved. However, he knew that Cao Ren had bad intentions, so he treated the maid like a passerby and had no intention of getting close to her. It was only by chance that Yunchang discovered that the maid was extremely elegant. When he recited "Spring and Autumn", the maid could respond with "Poetry". Only then did he learn that the maid was not a female advocate, but a lady of the Li family in Jinan. After he got up, his family fell into decline and he had to take turns to come here. When Guan Yu heard this, he felt even more affectionate in his heart, but he still restrained himself and observed etiquette, but he could not help chatting with him.
In late September, Guan Yu was practicing martial arts in the courtyard one day, but he heard the maid crying in the room. He couldn't help but feel strange and asked, but the maid didn't answer. Guan Yu kept asking questions before she answered with tears. It turned out that Cao Ren had an agreement with her. If she couldn't say "Jiangyun Chang" within three months, he would not spare his life. There is still half a month left, and the appointment is coming. The date of appointment is also the date of death, so how can she not be sad?
After explaining the whole story, Mrs. Li cried again: "Guan Jun is a great man with great ambitions in the world. Who doesn't admire him in the world? If Guan Jun's reputation is ruined because of me, I will never be able to atone for my sin!"
Guan Yu was silent after hearing this. He lingered for a long time and finally said: "How dare I accept the girl's wishes?" He also said: "Guan Yu is incompetent and cannot save the girl's life, but if I am lucky enough to survive, I am willing to preserve the girl's reputation. "
The two then secretly tied the knot and became husband and wife.
By mid-October, someone indeed captured Mr. Li, and then another maid was admitted to the hospital. Guan Yu couldn't bear it anymore and immediately started fighting. Even though he had no weapons, he killed several people with his bare hands, and finally allowed Cao Ren to capture them. To prevent an accident, he had to be transferred to the dungeon.
There were no doors in the dungeon of Xindu, and there were even very few lights. Guan Yu lived in a haze every day, and it was difficult to distinguish between day and night. When others came to ask him questions, he did not answer them. When others gave him things, he just ignored them. After eating, he lived half-dead for more than a month, and finally waited until Cao Cao came to see him.
Cao Cao asked him, "Is Yun Chang farewell okay?"
Guan Yu looked at Cao Cao's half-dark face under the lamplight and didn't answer for a long time.
Cao Cao sighed and couldn't help but admire him in his heart. For several months, he had exhausted almost all means, but he still could not shake Guan Yu even a little bit. He was like a tough man, even compared with ancient righteous men like Jing Ke and Yu Rang, he was not inferior. It's a pity that he doesn't have such talents under his command!
Thinking of this, he continued to look at Guan Yu, and felt that the shortcoming in his chest became more and more profound. He wanted to give some more advice, but unexpectedly the words came to his lips and he said: "Yun Chang, you can leave the day after tomorrow!"
Guan Yu was extremely confused and asked: "Where to go?"
As soon as Cao Cao said these words, he felt much more relaxed. He naturally said: "I made an appointment with Liu Xuande that I will let you go back this year. It is already December. If I don't let you go, I will break my promise."
After hearing that he could be reunited with his brothers, Guan Yu finally stood up slowly. He looked up to his commander and breathed a sigh of relief. He slowly walked to Cao Cao and asked, "I still have some brothers in the army. Can I take them away?"
Cao Cao nodded slightly and said, "No more than six or seven people."
When Guan Yu heard this, he immediately asked for his personal followers. He first asked about the whereabouts of Du Yun and Quan Xiu. These two people had followed him when he was fighting against Dong, and they were very effective. As a result, Guo Jia checked and found that these two people had frozen to death in winter. So Guan Yu asked Ran Kang, Mao Xian, and Huang He. They were the warriors Guan Yu conquered in Henan and were quite powerful. It turned out that they were infected with the epidemic after the war and died of the disease half a year ago. Guan Yu asked dozens of people again, but in the end only two people managed to survive. This made Guan Yu deeply disappointed. He finally asked for five stone-carrying slaves to build the palace, and then he only had seven people.
The next day, Cao Cao and Guan Yu had a farewell banquet. At the party, there were quite a lot of Easterners. Cao Cao invited dozens of beauties to dance and play the piano in the hall. The music played was "Bohai Breaking Formation Music". Cao Cao clapped his hands and asked Guan Yu: "Why does Yun Chang think Xuande was defeated by me last time?"
Guan Yu replied: "Cao Gong was very deceitful, but my brother was eager for quick success and failed to respond to changes, so he was defeated."
Cao Cao laughed when he heard this and praised everyone: "Yun Chang is really straightforward." Then he said, "We will fight again next year. How do you think Yunchang will win or lose?"
Guan Yu replied: "If we fight again head-on, our army will be seriously injured, and the chance of victory is only 40%. But if someone is in the army, he might not be able to take the head of Duke Cao to protect his brother."
Cao Cao applauded loudly when he heard this, and said to Guan Yu: "Today I let Yunchang go back, which can be said to be letting the tiger return to the mountain. But how can a hero like Yunchang not make people happy?! So today I want to say goodbye to you. As an appointment."
Guan Yu said: "But it doesn't matter."
Cao Cao raised his glass and said: "If I defeat Yunchang again, I hope Yunchang will surrender to me and my mother will refuse!"
When Guan Yu saw this, he also raised his glass and said, "Mr. Cao values this so much, so next time I meet him, I will spare him three arrows!"
】
After saying this, the surrounding generals immediately scolded him, but they soon calmed down for Cao Cao. He said with great sincerity: "Yun Chang promised a thousand gold, and we have settled on this."
After that, he ordered someone to take out a young girl from the house and said to Guan Yu: "This is Ah Long who is engaged to Yide. I originally intended to let her remarry, but she refused. When Yun Chang went back this time, he also took the opportunity to Take her with you! She is a good woman, but unfortunately, if there is a suitable one in my family, I will never let her out!"
Guan Yu heard that they were younger siblings and happily agreed. After eating and drinking, he stopped staying and set off immediately while guarding the carriage. After Guan Yu left, Guo Jia immediately spoke to Cao Cao and said: "Ming Gong, both Guan Yunchang and Chen Tingjian are Liu Bei's arms, how can it be so easy? It's still too late to send troops to rob and kill!"
When Cao Cao heard this, he just waved his hand and said bleakly: "Everyone is his own master, so why should he be like this?" After saying that, he suddenly thought of something and fumbled for a Chentang sword at his waist, but found nothing. In the end, he just Neng said sadly to himself: "The clouds are gone!"
