Since Cao Cao sent out troops, Chao Gai naturally no longer stayed, and immediately led his brothers back to the mountain. They all happened to be traveling together for several days, and arrived at Liangshan.
When the good guys who stayed behind on the mountain got the news, they were all very happy and came down to greet him. They heard calls for brothers and sisters, and it was very lively again.
Chao Gai was the most lively person, and his mood suddenly became high. He pulled Lao Cao and said with a smile: "Brother Wu, we are still in the New Year, and the weather is cold. How about we go up to the mountain and gather for a few more days. After the New Year is out, how about we fight for him again?" .”
Cao Cao smiled bitterly and said: "My king, you have been drinking and getting drunk for days, how can you still drink even a drop? I won't go up the mountain. When I wait for my master to return, the brothers will conspire to get drunk together."
When Chao Gai saw that he was determined, he reluctantly let everyone go. After walking for more than ten miles, he suddenly heard someone shouting from behind: "Brother, stay here and go out to play. Why don't you take my little brother with you!"
Cao Cao turned around and saw an eight-foot-old man, wearing iron armor and riding on an inferior horse. He hooked a pen knife in victory and ran towards the future with a smile on his face: "Brother, stay here. I will go with you to conquer Fang La Ye!"
This person is not someone else. There is a hymn that just talks about this person’s benefits——
Born to be as fierce as a tiger, he rode his horse and swung his sword to devour Xia captives.
The fierce and heroic spirit inspires strong ambition, and the sonorous and iron courage exaggerates the power.
He single-handedly defeated a large formation and saved a man's head, broke into the chief's camp and marched on the war drum.
In anger, all the demons were subdued, and the Liangshan god general poured down Han Wu!
When Cao Cao saw Han chasing after him with five horses, he had to stop his troops and waited for him to come close. He said helplessly: "Brother, it's not that I'm a fool who refuses to take you. It's just that I've said it before. Anyone who has served as a general in the imperial court will not take you." He is just afraid that someone will find out."
Han Wu glared and said, "Brother, don't try to trick me. Like Lin Chong, Guan Sheng, Hu Yanzhuo, etc., the whole world knows that he has descended to Liangshan, so naturally he dare not take him out. However, my younger brother eloped with Duan Sanniang that day. Who knew that I Then he went to Liangshan? Am I not a deserter? That’s one of the reasons! Second, they are all famous officers and generals, and my younger brother is just a general of the Western Army. How many people can recognize it? That’s when I met General Manager Liu I’m not afraid, I’ll just miss his old man and come back to serve as a soldier. Can he bite my eggs?”
When Cao Cao thought about it, it seemed that this was also the case. When Han Shizhong abducted Duan Sanniang and ran away, leaving a letter to say goodbye to Liu Yanqing, Lao Liu burned his letter on the spot, filled in the word "missing" on the roster, and now claimed to be fighting in the army. He was injured and separated, but now he has recovered and returned to the team, so why not?
After thinking through this point, he nodded and said: "Brother, your plan is not bad, but Duan Sanniang, your family, loves you deeply, how can you let you go so easily?"
When Han Shizhong saw that Lao Cao didn't chase him away, he immediately showed a smile and winked: "To be honest with you brother, that woman in my family is a big-bellied woman. Between the curtains of the bed, one person can be as good as five ordinary women. Although I am a The body made of copper and iron cannot withstand her spending her days and nights. Brother, why don’t you see that your younger brother has lost weight? Let’s go out to fight with him and nurse him back to health - I don’t want to see my younger brother die young, right?”
After hearing this, Lao Cao couldn't help but touch his face. He felt that his tentacles were made of hard bones. He thought that Han Wu's words were true. As long as you work hard, you can grind the iron pestle into an embroidery needle. I miss me, Lao Cao, out in the wind, frost and snow. Despite the rain and running around, I have never lost weight. After returning home for several months, drinking and eating meat every day, I have lost a lot of weight. It can be seen that a good woman wastes a lot of money!
He said with a smile: "In the past, Lu Chunyang's poem said that the beautiful body of the twenty-eight-year-old woman was like a crisp, and she had a sword at her waist to kill a fool. Haha, my lady has a mace at her waist, which is ten times more powerful and evil than the sword. No wonder you ran out. .”
The two men felt sorry for each other, and after a while, they let Han Shizhong join the army, pretending to be a partial general, and the army set off again.
Traveling all the way and staying overnight, it lasted more than one day. Finally, we drove outside Bianjing City, and saw that there were densely packed tents along the river. At a glance, the ground and the sky were endless.
Cao Cao sighed: "It seems that we arrived a little late. I am afraid that all the more than 100,000 Western troops have arrived."
So he summoned Wu Song, Lu Junyi, and Du Bo, who were nominally his three generals, and asked them to go to the Chinese army camp to ask for an audience with Liu Yanqing. Since these three were not smart-talkers, they could not avoid giving repeated orders. He was afraid that someone would tell the truth and leak out that he was in the camp, but he would be in trouble all his life.
Lu Junyi was the most honest person and worried: "Brother, according to the rules of the army, when I go here, I need to hand over the roster of all the troops under my command. Maybe there will be a military disciplinary officer to count people according to the roster. When the brother is called, how can I Not revealing anything?"
Cao Cao waved his hand and said, "It doesn't matter, I'll just use the other person's name."
He glanced at all the generals and suddenly asked, "Hey, I haven't seen Li Dunzi since I left Qingzhou. Who do you think knows where he is?"
Who is this Li Dunzi? This man was originally the commander of Chenzhou's army. Last year he accompanied Tong Guan to pacify Wang Qing. He was the commander of the army and horsemen of this state and was killed by the fierce general Gu Jian among the thieves. Gu Yong came back from the killing, and with a hob in his hand, he killed the Huaixi bandit general Ji Sansi.
Later, Chen Zhoubing was transferred to Lao Cao's command. In the battle of Fangzhou, it was this man again. In the melee, he killed Liu Yijing, a famous general among thieves, and was promoted to deputy general based on his merits.
Later, Lao Cao was promoted to Jiedushi and was ordered to form the Qingzhou Army. Originally, most of the Chenzhou soldiers returned home, but Li Dunzi was willing to stay in the army, and he officially became Lao Cao's tribe. During the conquest of Tianhu, he participated in the killing of bandits. Generals Wu Cheng and Zhong Liang helped capture Yun Zongwu alive, which really made a great contribution and impressed Lao Cao deeply.
Seeing Lao Cao asking about this person, Du Bo smiled and said, "Brother, have you forgotten? In the first few days when you came back, Li Dunzi also went with me to visit my brother's house."
When he mentioned it, Cao Cao immediately remembered it and said with a smile: "Yes, this guy is brave in battle, but his drinking capacity is not good. He will get drunk after just a few drinks."
Du Bo nodded repeatedly: "It was this drunkenness that actually led to a good relationship! That day he left his brother's mansion and was top-heavy and couldn't walk. It was his younger brother who supported him and rested in the teahouse of the old lady next to him. I went back and ordered two cups of sobering tea. While I was drinking, a young lady like a flower came to join Po Wang. She said she was an old friend of that Po Wang’s in Yanggu County, named Zhang Xixi. She spoke in a gentle and gentle manner. , that fellow Dunzi looked straight at it."
She said with a cheerful smile: "Wang Po is a warm-hearted person. After hearing that Zhang Xixi had never promised anyone, she immediately praised Dunzi, saying that he was highly valued by his brother. He went out to fight several times and fought hard, and made great achievements. Thanks to his brother's grace, He also saved thousands of dollars in family property, and he was honest and honest. It was a pity that there was no lady in the room to take care of him. After hearing this, Zhang Xixi became shy at that time, biting the handkerchief in his hand and keeping silent, whispering He turned his head and only looked at brother Dunzi secretly."
Cao Cao was stunned when he heard this. Wouldn't he remember this Zhang Xixi? It was Ximen Qing's eldest wife. After Ximen Qing died, he had no one to rely on, so he went to Wang Po as a matchmaker to seduce Cao Cao. Cao Cao thought her behavior was romantic, so he pretended not to understand her meaning and just called her Ruo Cao. Since he had no livelihood, he went to the Hero Building to perform and sing.
Later, Wang Po moved to Qingzhou with the Wu family, thinking that there would be no more entanglements. Unexpectedly, this woman was also thoughtful and chased her to Qingzhou. She still asked Wang Po to help find a lonely old man. Unexpectedly, she met Li Dunzi.
This Du Bo seems to be an honest person, and he even said that Zhang Xixi is shy. That woman is from Lu Qi, and she is a concubine for famous people like Ximen Qing. I am afraid that one hundred and eight postures have been unlocked. The so-called shyness is just a way to show off coquettishness. It is difficult for him and Li Dunzi to see clearly.
I secretly sighed for Dunzi, and couldn't help but be curious: "What happened next?"
Du Bo said with a smile: "Later Dunzi promised Wang Po one hundred guan and asked her to be a matchmaker and marry Zhang Xixi back to his family. Alas, this boy is also lucky. He married a man who understands love and warmth, and understands both light and important things. A virtuous lady.”
Cao Cao was stunned when he heard this: "How do you know how to know pain and heat, and how to recognize severity?"
Du Bu said seriously: "Dunzi is alone in Qingzhou. According to my younger brother's wishes, I should ask my elder brother to make the decision for him and host the wedding. But his bride heard this and refused in every possible way. She said that my elder brother is General, there are so many important things to be done, how can we disturb you so easily? The two brothers have not been at home for more than a year, and their wives and children have to be with them at home, so they should not cause trouble. Therefore, I only invited a few robes and neighbors to have a small celebration. Fan. Brother, think about it, most women in the world love vanity. Who wouldn’t want someone like me to preside over a wedding? But she knows how to measure. Isn’t this virtuous? "
Cao Cao was speechless and nodded, knowing in his heart: This woman was afraid that he would reveal her true identity, so how could she dare to actually allow him to officiate at the wedding?
Du Bu thought that Cao Cao nodded and agreed with his point of view, and continued to praise: "Dunzi's bridal chamber was stained with blood on the white cloth, but she was a real young lady. Isn't this a good match sent by God? Dunzi has been fighting hard for half his life, but he has not yet established a family. Now that I have met this beautiful woman, I am really afraid of melting away and losing her. When my younger brother saw that he was newly married, he couldn't leave her. On this expedition, he deliberately did not pick him up and asked him to seize the time to keep a boy and a half girl. It won’t be too late to fight with me.”
Yellow flower girl... Lao Cao sighed and thought that since he felt happy, why should he be a bad person? However, Mrs. Wang did not do this in a very honest way, so she needs to talk to her after she returns.
Shaking his head to get rid of these distracting thoughts, he said: "Well, since Dunzi never came, I will pretend to be Li Dunzi during this southern expedition. With an army of hundreds of thousands, can Tong Guan and Liu Yanqing see me?"
Now that Lao Cao had made up his mind, Wu Song and others naturally obeyed. The three of them immediately took a deputy, namely Yan Qing, Yang Zaixing, and Niu Gao, six men and six horses, and rushed to the Chinese army camp.
More than two hours later, when the sky turned dark, the six of them returned and reported to Cao Cao: "Liu Jiedu is nostalgic and said a lot about his brother, but Tong Guan ordered the generals of the three of us and called me three. Lead the troops and horses of our headquarters and serve as the vanguard of the army. After replenishing our army's food supplies tomorrow, we will send out troops the day after tomorrow and go straight to capture Runzhou so that the army can cross the river."
After Cao Cao heard this, he immediately understood Tong Guan's plan: He had been in charge of the Western Army for a long time and regarded it as the foundation of his power. He had previously promoted Cao Cao to build the Qingzhou Army. His original intention was not to put all the eggs in one basket, and to cultivate another force that could compete with the Western Army. The countervailing force thought it was balanced, but unfortunately he was "trapped in the Jin Kingdom", so he changed his mind about the Qingzhou Army and regarded it as expendable. He wanted to use the bravery of Wu, Lu and others to break up the Jiangnan pattern and teach the Western Army to make great achievements easily.
He immediately sneered and said: "It's a good calculation. They are all Western troops, but I, the thousands of people, can be regarded as guest troops. Now they teach us how to chew bones, but they are good at eating meat. It's a pity that they underestimated my brothers in the end. They want me to chew the bones, but I will tell them that they have no merit! Let’s see who is in a hurry then.”
The next day, the grain was indeed delivered. The quantity was counted, and the amount was only a mere 30% short. This shows that although Tong Guan wants to use them for consumables, he is quite sincere.
Another day, just after the fifth watch, Lao Cao immediately sent out troops. More than 3,000 people formed a long snake formation, took the dry road, traveled southeast, and headed straight for Yangzhou!
This is exactly what it means: Counting yourself before counting your enemies will lead to endless internal friction. The proud dragon's ambition is in the white clouds, and the snake and mouse's thoughts are in the sewage.
(End of chapter)
