Cao Wu controlled Cao Cao's emotions with just a few words. When the generals saw this, they all had their own concerns.
The memorial ceremony is over, and the tasks have been handed over. Since the battle achievements are still being tallied, some rewards and punishments will be distributed after returning to the north.
Except for a few soldiers left to guard Jiangxia, Cao Cao's army returned to the north.
On the third day of going north, an urgent document was delivered to Cao Jun's army.
When he received this document, Cao Cao was sleeping in the carriage of his master.
After the assassination of Wulin, Cao Cao was restless. Except for Xu Chu and Cao Wu, he did not allow anyone to come near him while sleeping.
Fearing that the military situation was urgent, Xun You could only open it by himself, and only then did he realize that it was a letter asking for help from Bingzhou.
It turned out that Liu Bei's envoy Sun Qian left Xiakou and headed north in disguise. He kept going day and night and finally met the Huchuquan Chanyu of the Southern Huns.
To Sun Qian's surprise, he just followed the instructions of military advisor Pang Tong and told the news that Cao Cao's army was along the Yangtze River. Huchuquan Shanyu was really persuaded and decided to go south to plunder.
Sun Qian was very excited about this. When he left, Xiakou was still building fortifications. He believed that the southern Xiongnu going south would definitely alleviate the war situation in Xiakou.
Little did he know that Xiakou had been lost long ago and the city was empty.
The Huns' first target was Bingzhou.
This has not happened for many years. Liang Xi, the governor of Bingzhou, mobilized all states and counties to deploy defenses and quickly sent a letter to Xudu asking for help.
The strength of the prefectures and counties was limited, and the Huns were mostly cavalry and could come and go freely. Liang Xi was already prepared to strengthen the walls and clear the country, because he also knew that the prime minister was using troops in the south and it was impossible to send reinforcements to Bingzhou.
Xun Yu, the minister in charge of Xuchang, received the letter asking for help. Since the troops were all in the south and did not dare to take charge, he rushed the letter 800 miles away and sent it to Cao Ying.
Xun You, Cheng Yu, and Jia Xu discussed it for a long time, but they couldn't come up with a reason.
Different from the Xiongnu in the early Han Dynasty, the southern Xiongnu had already submitted to the Han Dynasty and was more like a prince.
At this time, the Xiongnu were far from as powerful as they were in the early Han Dynasty. Ding Yuan of Bingzhou, Gongsun Zan of Youzhou, and Yuan Shao of Jizhou all defeated the Xiongnu so that they did not dare to raise their heads.
In the seventh year of Jian'an, Cao Cao launched an expedition against Yuan Shang and other Yuan Shao's remaining forces.
Huchuquan Shanyu saw the emptiness of the Central Plains and went to Pingyang to stir up trouble. Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou, and Guo Yuance, the prefect of Dongjun, responded to Huchuquan Shanyu and started a war on the western front in the east of Hedong.
Zhong Yao, the Sili captain who stayed in Xudu, besieged Huchuquan and persuaded Xiliang Prefect Ma Teng to attack the high officials together. Ma Teng sent his son Ma Chao to fight against Guo Yuan.
In this battle, Ma Chao restrained his feet and killed the enemy, showing his strength for the first time. Pang De killed Guo Yuan and Gao Gan surrendered.
Huchuquan Shanyu could not support himself alone, so he had no choice but to surrender.
Nowadays, the Central Plains is empty again. Qingzhou soldiers and tiger and leopard cavalry have been transferred to the south one after another. There are almost no forces that can support Bingzhou.
Huchuquan Shanyu is here again.
Zhong Yao still guarded Sili, but Huchuquan Chanyu chose to harass Bingzhou instead of the wealthy Sili.
Cheng Yu said: "It takes thousands of miles to reach Bingzhou from Xiangyang to the north. The army has already been out for a long time. If we walk such a long distance, we will be exhausted and cannot fight. Moreover, time is running out. I am afraid that the enemy will retreat by the time we arrive."
Jia Xu said coldly: "The Huns are not good at attacking cities, so we should just ignore them and let them take them back."
Such cold-blooded remarks were supported by Cheng Yu, but Xun You disagreed.
Once people's support is lost, it is not easy to get it back.
Xun You wanted to send the tiger and leopard cavalry to rush to the rescue quickly. However, if the tiger and leopard cavalry traveled thousands of miles away, their combat effectiveness might not be fully demonstrated.
The three of them did not reach a conclusion through discussion. They thought of Zhuge Liang and sent someone to invite him.
Zhuge Liang said that the war was over and he was no longer the commander of the army. He was just an aide to General Beifu, not a court official. If General Beifu disagreed, he would not participate in the military.
The three of them looked at each other and wanted to invite Cao Wu again, but Cao Cao was already awake.
After listening to the report, Cao Cao chuckled: "Huchuquan, I actually know that Bingzhou is not rich. He harassed Bingzhou just because he wanted to get some benefits from Gu. He didn't really want to attack the city and plunder the land. If he was given benefits, he would naturally Will walk."
The three great counselors also knew this, but they were all excellent counselors, and none of them offered to give money or food to the Huns.
Cao Cao thought for a while and said in deep thought: "You must not cut the meat to feed the tiger. If you cut a little today and a little tomorrow, you won't be able to raise this child well. This matter must be dealt with, but the army cannot be mobilized. The army is tired and cannot fight anymore."
Xun You asked tentatively: "What does Ming Gong mean?"
"If you go to Bingzhou alone, the Huns will retreat!"
"My lord, no!"
The three great counselors were startled and all tried to persuade him.
The Southern Huns were greedy by nature, so they plundered, but in fact they were frightened birds who were afraid of being beaten. The three of them had no doubt that as long as Cao Cao arrived alone, the Southern Xiongnu would be scared away.
But Cao Cao had just experienced an assassination, was infected with an epidemic, and suffered from a headache, so he could no longer take risks.
"My lord, you have a rich body, you can't take any more risks!"
However, Cao Cao had made up his mind and the three of them could not dissuade him.
After leaving Cao Cao's place, Xun You had an idea and said, "Why not ask General Beifu?"
The three were overjoyed, and Jia Xu even thought of letting Cao Wu play Cao Cao again.
Before he set off, Xu Chu was already chasing after him with a silly smile.
"Three princes, my lord has said that General Beifu cannot be informed of this matter."
Xu Chu passed a message from Cao Cao.
"Why?"
Xun You was anxious. The assassination that day was still fresh in his mind. The risk of letting Cao Cao go to Bingzhou alone was too great.
Xu Chu touched his head and said, "My lord said that he can take risks, but there is nothing he can do."
"But Xiaowu can't..."
Xun You repeated it, and his mood suddenly hit rock bottom.
He understood what Cao Cao meant. He could not tell General Beifu about this matter, otherwise General Beifu would go on behalf of Cao Cao, and the risk that Cao Cao should have taken would be borne by Cao Wu.
"Brotherhood is deep, brotherhood is deep..."
Xun You sighed and shook his head.
In the end, Cao Cao made a compromise, and Cao Chun took two thousand tiger and leopard cavalry to escort Cao Cao north to Bingzhou. The tiger and leopard cavalry traveled all over the world. Even if they were exhausted from the long journey, they would not be unable to protect Cao Cao. Among the three great counselors, Xun You and Cheng Yu followed him northward, leaving only Jia Xu with the army.
After the matter was settled, in order to appease the morale of the army, only a few of them knew that Cao Wu was kept in the dark.
At this time, Cao Wu still held the holiday in his hands. Since Cao Cao was here, the holiday was of no use. All orders came from Cao Cao's camp, and Cao Wu was at ease.
A few days later, when Xudu was approaching, someone suddenly came to Cao Wu to ask about something, and Cao Wu was alerted that something was wrong.
By the time he found Cao Cao's tent, it was already empty.
Jia Xu waited there, smiling bitterly and telling the truth.
What outsiders saw was that on the day the army arrived at Xudu, Cao Cao passed through Xudu without entering and went north.
The prime minister went on an expedition and every time he came back, he would go to see the emperor, and he also had to do face-saving projects.
This time Cao Cao left directly, causing the emperor to lose face.
According to the custom, it was the emperor's scepter that was used as a holiday. After returning to Beijing, he had to meet the emperor's return. However, Cao Wu was angry that Cao Cao had hidden it from him, so he threw the scepter casually and took the people from Beifu back to Beifu. .
The emperor lost face again. No one dared to scold Cao Cao, but some people publicly scolded Cao Wu.
Cao Wu had accumulated a good reputation in the army, but among the officials of Xudu, he was still a dandy, and after experiencing disrespect for the emperor, his reputation fell to the bottom.
But does Cao Wu care?
He doesn't care about that.
When they heard that their general was back, all the beauties from Beifu went out in unison, cheering and standing at the entrance of Beifu.
Zhuge Liang, who came back with him, had never seen such a formation and was shocked.
When Cao Wu got off the carriage, the scene became even grander. The maids of Beifu came up to him chattering.
Ah Jiu is the most athletic one here. She was the first to run up to Cao Wu with her long legs. She threw herself into his arms and said with tears in her eyes: "General, you are finally back, wuwu."
Then, Ah Qi also rushed over and said, "Dad, I miss you so much."
"dad?"
What is that? Zhuge Liang, who was watching, was completely confused.
The shackled Lu Xun was also stunned.
