So Cao Cao had enough troops, advisors and generals, and no one in Shandong was unconvinced. At this time, Cao Cao thought of his father, and sent Ying Shao, the prefect of Taishan, to Langya County to pick up his father.
Because of Cao Cao's assassination of Dong Zhuo, his father had been taking refuge in Chenliu and lived in seclusion in Langya. He received a letter that day and learned that Cao Cao now had a foothold. He was very happy and immediately took his younger brother and a family of forty. The remaining people, as well as more than 200 attendants and more than 100 vehicles, were heading towards Yanzhou, but Xuzhou was the only way to go.
Tao Qian, the prefect of Xuzhou, named Gongzu, was a kind and honest man. After learning about Cao Cao's power, he always wanted to make friends with Cao Cao. He happened to have no reason. He was very happy to know what his father was about to go through, and went abroad to greet him personally. In thanks and respect, a grand banquet was held and the whole family was entertained for two days.
When Cao Song was about to leave, Tao Qian personally escorted him out of the city. He specially sent Captain Zhang Kai to escort him with an army of more than 500 people. His family was walking to a place. It was late summer and early autumn, and suddenly there was a heavy rain. , can only rest in a dilapidated ancient temple.
Some monks came out to entertain them. After Cao Song settled his family, he ordered General Zhang Kai to gather horses on both sides. However, the temple did not have that big space, so the soldiers who came together could only get wet in the rain, and the weather was a bit cold. Naturally, Some complaints.
Zhang Kai felt bad about being summoned by Cao Song, so he called his leaders to discuss in a quiet place, saying: "We are originally the remnants of the Yellow Turban thieves. We had no choice but to seek refuge with Tao Qian. We didn't get him." There is no benefit at all. Now the task of escorting Cao Song has been placed on us again. He carries his family and countless luggage. I think there must be valuable things in it. It is very easy for you to get a fortune. You only need to do it three times tonight. At midnight, let's go into the temple together, kill Cao Song's family, young and old, steal their finances, and then work as bandits in the mountains and live a free and unrestrained life, what do you think?"
These people were originally the remnants of the Yellow Turban thieves, and they never had the idea of stable work in their hearts, so they all agreed to this matter.
The storm had not stopped that night. Cao Song was sitting in the house when he suddenly heard loud shouts of murder outside. His younger brother Cao De quickly picked up his sword and went out to find out. He was directly stabbed to death. Cao Song quickly took his wife and concubines to the abbot's house. They walked to the room and wanted to climb over the back wall to escape. One of his concubines was too fat and couldn't come out at all. Cao Song was really anxious and couldn't bear to give up and leave, so they hid in the toilet together. After being discovered by the rebels, , hacked randomly and died under the knife. Ying Shao knew that the situation was over, so he went to join Yuan Shao.
Zhang Kai's sudden attack put the entire Cao family in danger. He killed all the other family members and took away their belongings. In order not to leave any evidence, he burned down the entire temple with a fire, taking with him more than 500 people. Together they fled towards Huainan.
This happened suddenly. Although Ying Shao went to Yuan Shao to seek refuge, some of them did not go, but the sergeants who escaped reported the situation to Cao Cao. When Cao Cao heard about it, he cried very sadly and knelt down. The ground was really heartbroken.
The crowd helped him up. Cao Cao gritted his teeth and said, "Tao Qian deliberately sent people to kill my father. This hatred is irreconcilable! I will lead the army now and must wash away the city of Xuzhou before it can be eliminated." All I feel is hatred!”
So he left Xun Yu and Cheng Yu to lead 30,000 troops to guard Juancheng, Fan County, and Dong'a counties. The others went to Xuzhou to kill, with Xiahou Dun, Yu Jin, and Dian Wei as the vanguard. Cao Cao issued a ruthless order , as long as the city is captured, all the people in the city, no matter who they are, will be killed.
This matter soon spread to Chang'an, and Yu Yi and Jia Xu began to discuss it again, saying: "I heard that Tao Qian has a good reputation and has always wanted to curry favor with Cao Cao. So this kind of move is not lifting a stone." Smash yourself in the foot?"
Jia Xu smiled and said, "Do you know how to play Go? How about we play against each other?"
Yu Yi is better at chess than Go, but he has no reason to refuse when others ask him to play. He just says: "Come here, will I still be afraid of you?" At the same time, Yu Yi thought to himself, if he had a mobile phone Just have it in hand. If you build a computer with the highest difficulty level, you can definitely defeat Jia Xu.
Jia Xu held a white chess piece in his hand, observed the situation on the chessboard, and said, "I think the same as you. Tao Qian's doing this is tantamount to sticking his head out to be chopped off by others. It really doesn't make sense."
Yu Yi sighed: "Could it be?"
Jia Xu affirmed Yu Yi's words and said: "You are right. I investigated this Zhang Kai and found out that Tao Qian was too stupid to send such a person."
"How do you say this?" Yu Yi observed the situation while holding the black chess piece and thinking about the next step.
"This Zhang Kai is a remnant of the Yellow Turban Thieves. He is extremely greedy. Tao Qian sent him to escort the Cao family. Isn't this sending a sheep into the tiger's mouth?"
Jia Xu smiled.
"I see, but Cao Cao also has advisers around him. We can think of it, and they should also think of it. Why not tell him about this?"
Yuyi still has questions.
"This is their brilliance. Cao Cao is now at the peak of his military strength, but his military morale is not unified. They have not experienced a major war yet. This attack on Xuzhou is a good opportunity to practice."
Jia Xu stroked his beard and looked at the chessboard.
"But he wants to kill all the people in Xuzhou. What is the difference between his behavior and Dong Zhuo?"
Yuyi continued to ask.
"Anyone who achieves great things does not stick to trivial matters. If you just shrink back and show courtesy, I am afraid it will be difficult for you to achieve great things!"
"Okay, you have lost!" After saying this, Jia Xu stood up and made a concession gesture.
"Come on, I still feel good losing to you. I'm still young. In a few years, I will definitely be more powerful than you!"
Only then did Yu Yi realize that the defense line he had built in the corner had been broken at some point.
"Okay, I'll wait and see!" Jia Xu cupped his hands and left Yuyi's mansion.
This incident attracted Yu Yi's attention. He believed that Tao Qian's city would be breached sooner or later, and the people in the city should be notified as soon as possible to flee. Regarding Cao Cao's behavior, Yu Yi felt that he understood but did not understand, but these were not important. After all, they met in Luoyang at that time. At that time, Cao Cao was preparing to assassinate Dong Zhuo with a seven-star sword. Later, he failed, and he helped to escape. Now Cao Cao has become a murderous devil.
The prefect of Jiujiang stepped aside and had a good relationship with Tao Qian. Hearing that Xuzhou was in trouble, he came to the rescue with 5,000 troops. Cao Cao was very angry and sent Xiahou Dun to intercept and kill them on the way.
