Cao Cao naturally agreed to this. After all, Emperor Xian finally came out to do something, so he couldn't give him any face, so the two thanked him and left.
Then Cao Cao reported Zhang Xiu's incident to the emperor. After all, there must be a good excuse to attack Zhang Xiu, so as to gain the support of public opinion. Cao Cao gave the emperor face, and the emperor naturally returned the favor to Cao Cao and personally arranged for Luan Jia. It was already summer when I sent Cao Cao out of the city, which was the third year of Jian'an.
Xun Yu was known as Cao Cao's Xiao He. With him sitting in the rear and dispatching, it would be much better for him to be on the front line, so he left Xun Yu in Xudu and dispatched his own troops and generals to prepare for departure.
Yu Yi was in Xiaopei. He felt that both his master and his beloved had news, and he could no longer do nothing like this. This time, he did not leave without saying goodbye, but took the initiative to go to Liu Bei and explained what he meant. He thought Liu Bei would be furious, but no Thinking of it, he just nodded silently and said: "Please pay attention to safety on the road. No matter what difficulties we encounter, our brothers will always find a way to solve it."
Liu Bei's words made Yu Yi feel very warm. He packed his things, went to see Zhang Fei and Guan Yu to say goodbye, and then left Xiaopei.
This action did not leave Lu Bu's figure. Someone told him about this situation. Lu Bu came to Chen Gong to discuss it and said: "Cao Cao asked Liu Bei to stay in Xiaopei. I'm afraid his intention is not that simple. Yu Yi left this time, maybe to do something." For some important things, you can send people to monitor them.”
Lu Bu followed this suggestion, but it was difficult to choose. Although Yu Yi's martial arts was not very good, he was very clever and had the skill of flying knives. It would be difficult for ordinary people to complete the task, so he chose Zhang Liao over and over again. Go and monitor Yuyi.
After Cao Cao left Xudu, he marched towards Wancheng. Suddenly he saw a field of ripe wheat, but no residents could be seen, so he sent someone to find a local man and learned about the situation. It turned out that these people were afraid of the soldiers approaching, so they They all hid far away, so naturally no one dared to cut the wheat.
After Cao Cao learned about this situation, he sent people to find old people and villagers near and far, and then went to the officials everywhere and said: "I followed the emperor's edict to send troops to attack the traitor Zhang Xiu and eliminate harm for the people. Now it is busy farming. It’s time for the wheat to be ripe, so I have no choice but to raise troops. Generals, big and small, whoever tramples on anyone passing through the wheat fields will be dragged out and beheaded. Our military laws are very strict, so don’t be afraid or have any doubts.”
After hearing this, the people were very happy. When they saw Cao Cao's soldiers and horses, they took the initiative to kneel down and worship. When the officers and soldiers passed by the wheat field, they were frightened by flattery and stepped on the wheat and were beheaded. They all dismounted and walked. No one dared to step on the wheat. Every time Everyone walked carefully.
Cao Cao was riding his horse on the road. Suddenly a bird flew up in the field. The horse thought it was in danger, so it ran into the wheat field in panic and trampled a large piece of the wheat field.
The order he had just given was broken first. If he didn't do something, it would be difficult to convince the public. Cao Cao secretly sighed that it was bad, but his ability to adapt was so strong that he immediately found the army chief and personally gave him the order. A charge of trampling on wheat fields was drawn up.
The chief clerk was a little confused and said, "Why did the Prime Minister draft a crime for himself?"
Cao Cao replied: "It is my own rule not to trample on this wheat field. Now that I have broken the law, how can I convince the public?" After saying this, he took out the sword beside him and prepared to kill himself to apologize.
After everyone saw it, they quickly stopped it.
After Guo Jia saw it, he smiled secretly and said: "It is mentioned in the Spring and Autumn Annals that criminal law cannot be used in the hands of the framers. The prime minister is the commander-in-chief of the armed forces. How can he commit suicide in this place?"
Cao Cao secretly laughed in his heart, "How could I not know this allusion? I just want to show off and act, and you, Guo Jia, are still cooperating with me."
So he pretended to think for a long time, then turned into a painful expression and said: "Since the sage said so, I have no choice but to save myself from death first, but trampling on the wheat field will definitely be a living sin." There's no way to escape!" After saying that, Cao Cao cut off a long section of his hair with his sword, threw it to the ground and said, "Then I'll cut it off as your head."
He had his hair cut off and showed it to the three armies, and then shouted: "The prime minister trampled on the wheat field, and he should have been beheaded directly. But the culprit is still there, so he took the hair instead of his head and allowed him to make up for his fault!"
This incident caused a shock in the army. Whether he personally participated in the attack on Shouchun or took the lead here to set an example, the soldiers were full of admiration. As a result, everyone became more united, the discipline of the army became more stable, and the people's hearts were very unified.
After Zhang Xiu knew that Cao Cao was coming, he quickly wrote to Liu Biao, hoping that he would serve as backup, and on the one hand, he and two generals, Lei Xu and Zhang Xian, would go out of the city to meet the enemy.
During the confrontation between the two formations, Zhang Xiu stepped forward, pointed at Cao Cao and cursed: "You are a shameless person who is hypocritical and hypocritical. What is the difference between you and an animal?"
In fact, Cao Cao knew what this meant. After all, he was the one who occupied someone else's sister-in-law first, but he was still very angry when he was told this, so he sent Xu Chu out to fight, and Zhang Xiu sent Zhang Xian, two soldiers and horses. They met, but within three rounds, Xu beheaded him and killed him. The combat power of the two was so different that Zhang Xiu was defeated and quickly retreated.
Cao Cao chased Nanyang City all the way, while Zhang Xiu stayed behind closed doors. Cao Cao saw that the city defenses around the city were well balanced, and the surrounding water was very strong, making it very difficult to attack, so he sent people to bring soil and dug pits for the city defenses one by one. Fill the land, then spread it with homespun bags and weeds, make a simple step stool on the edge of the city, and stand on it to observe the situation in the city.
Then he came down and rode around the city to see the situation. After three days of this, Cao Cao ordered his sergeants to pile firewood on the west gate corner, gathered all the generals, and prepared to go to the city there.
After Yu Yi came out of Xiaopei, he had been inquiring about the news and learned that Cao Cao's army had had a head-on duel with Zhang Xiu. Zhang Xiu was defeated and entered Nanyang. Now Cao Cao is organizing an army to besiege.
He was originally worried about Jia Xu's safety, but this news made Yu Yi's worries worse. He regretted a little. He should have set out for Nanyang earlier, but now the city was surrounded by Cao Cao. What should he do?
The last time Jia Xu surrendered, it was easy to say that he was there to persuade him to surrender. If he was recognized by Cao Cao again this time, I am afraid that because of Cao Cao's intelligence, he would be unable to defend himself and would have to die, so Yu Yi fell into deep thought.
Finally, he made a decision. If you don't enter the tiger's den, you won't get the tiger's cub. Jia Xu was very kind to him and taught him strategy. Even if he died because of this incident, he would be considered a worthy death, so Yu Yi soiled himself with dirt. Then he tricked a soldier and mixed into Cao's army.
Strangely enough, there was no movement from Cao's army for two consecutive days, and Yu Yi was also surprisingly idle. He thought that waiting like this was definitely not an option.
