After Xuchang's four imperial edicts came down, Liu Bei was so frustrated that Liu Qi drove him to Baqiu to station himself. He knew that it was Lin Mo's plan, but he had no choice but to stabilize Liu Qi first, and then slowly dissolve this barrier. .
The situation in Jiangdong is also changing people's minds. The four major families are determined to cut off their relationship with Sun Ce. We are all just interested in cooperation, and there is no reason for you to be buried with Sun Ce.
From this perspective, both Liu Bei and Sun Ce fell into great passivity.
But compared to the two of them, Cao Cao's situation was the most difficult.
As soon as the emperor issued an edict, Cao Cao lost his identity as Sikong and became a heinous national thief. For a time, the two states were in an uproar.
Even at the beginning, everyone knew that Cao Cao was blackmailing the emperor to order the princes, but it was legal after all, and even the scholars from all over the world came to him for this reason.
But even if this edict confirmed the fact that the traitors were from other countries, varying degrees of turmoil occurred in Jing and Yi states.
On the other side of Yizhou, some counties were out of control and simply refused to pay the quarterly quota of taxes, money and food to Chengdu. What could Cao Ren do? He led troops to quell the rebellion, but the fight on this side was not finished, and on the other side It started again.
In desperation, he could only ask Cao Cao for help. After all, there were not many troops left for him in Yizhou, so that he could not send anyone to quell the chaos.
If Cao Cao dares to go to Yizhou now, he will not be able to come back to Jingzhou. Of course he understands this.
He even knew that some people here might really want to take the opportunity to get rid of his control because of the emperor's edict, but more people were afraid that they had become rebellious after seeing him suffer a huge defeat, lose his troops, and lose the Central Plains. , just taking this opportunity to put some money on his face.
But no matter what, he must stay in Jingzhou. As long as he leaves, not only Nanjun and Nanyang will be lost, but also more than 80,000 Jingxiang navy troops will be lost.
The Jingzhou Navy is his biggest support now. If this force is lost again, he will not have any capital to resist.
Of course, the turmoil in Yizhou cannot be ignored. All Cao Cao can do is to send Cao Ang to lead the army, with Fazheng, Zhang Song, Meng Da and other old Yizhou troops to participate. This will have a much better effect.
In fact, compared to the turmoil in Yizhou, what really made Cao Cao uneasy was the relatively peaceful Jingzhou.
Moreover, he also knew that there was only one person he had to deal with, Cai Mao.
I have to say that declaring Cao Cao a traitor and promoting Cai Mao to the commander of the navy was a very clever move.
On the one hand, Cai Mao's nature was greedy like a jackal, poisonous like a snake and a scorpion, and he was a child of an aristocratic family with no bottom line. Liu Biao's death was said to be due to a sudden illness, but only they themselves knew the truth, and Cao Cao knew this.
But on the other hand, even if you confide in Cai Mao, you can't protect him after these two imperial edicts. What is Cai Mao thinking in his heart? He has already sold his master once and doesn't mind selling him a second time.
Moreover, the first time the seller may be criticized for being morally untenable, but the second time there is someone with a holy purpose. Even if you kill Cao Cao, others will still praise you for eliminating thieves for the country.
Therefore, Cao Cao knew very well that to break this situation, he didn't need to worry about what other people thought, he just needed to deal with Cai Mao.
"Greetings to the lord!" Outside the council hall, a rugged man wearing armor, a tasseled helmet, and a short beard strode in and bowed his hands.
Cao Cao, who was sitting sideways on the handsome chair, did not look directly at him, but lowered his head and clasped his nails and muttered: "Degui, you and I are old friends. Looking back on the days in Luoyang City, you and I went to see Liang Mengxing together. At that time, We didn’t expect that we would become such an important figure in the world today.”
Cai Hao was a little confused. He brought up some old memories. After a moment of confusion, he raised his hands and said with a smile: "Yes, thirty years have passed in a flash. Time has passed and time has disappeared. It's sad."
"What makes me even more sad is that when my life was rough and I encountered setbacks, my old friend wanted to make trouble for me!" Cao Cao suddenly roared with anger, and then turned around and stared at Cai Mao fiercely.
Cai Hao was frightened by this sudden change of expression and took two steps back. He quickly knelt down on one knee and bowed: "Why did my lord say this? I will always be loyal to my lord!"
"Loyal?"
The cold-faced Cao Cao sneered, then picked up a piece of silk cloth from the table and threw it in front of Cai Mao, "I think you are loyal to Lu Bu and Lin Mo."
Cai Mao hurriedly picked up the silk cloth on the ground. It was okay if he didn't look at it. When he looked at it, he shrank his head in fear and turned pale.
The content above is a reply letter. To put it simply, it scolds Cao Cao as a traitor to the country. Now he has begun to contact all parties to prepare to eradicate him at the right time. When the time comes, Cao Cao's head will be presented and signed, Cai Mao.
The most terrible thing was that this handwriting was exactly the same as his, and even he couldn't identify it.
"You have nothing to say?"
Cao Cao looked coldly at Cai Mao, whose eyes widened in surprise, and snorted, "Drag him out and kill him!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Chu walked over and put his right hand on Cai Mao's shoulder. Out of martial instinct, Cai Mao wanted to get up and struggle, but as Xu Chu pressed down his other hand, Cai Mao couldn't move.
Of course, the water battle was fierce, but in this land battle, Xu Chu was able to press Cai Mao to the ground and rub him.
"This is a frame-up, my lord! My lord! The general has never written any letters to Lin Mo. The general was framed by a villain!" Cai Mao roared hysterically as Xu Chu dragged him away.
Yes, I wanted to defect to him, but I didn't have time to do it.
In fact, it is really no wonder that Cai Mao has such thoughts.
When I first submitted to Cao Cao, what I valued most was that he was dominating the Central Plains, holding the emperor on his arm, and carrying the constitution on his lips. When the situation was so strong, most people in Jingzhou were willing to bet on Cao Cao.
Who would have known that Sizhou lost so many soldiers and horses in a defeat, and even the emperor was lost, not to mention the two Central Plains states joining in.
On the other hand, Lu Lin's momentum is so fierce that it can be said to be unprecedented since the Great Chaos. Even Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, and Yuan Shu were not as powerful as their son-in-law now.
Aside from that, even Huang Zu defected to him, Lu Lin, why couldn't I join him?
The crux of the problem is that this idea has just come out and has not been carried out yet. As a result, something like this happened. Cai Mao felt that he was more unjust than Dou E.
At the same time, he also knew that Cao Cao must have murderous intentions, because the person who did it was Xu Chu.
Seeing that Cai Mao was about to be dragged out of the door, Cheng Yu stood up, bowed his hands and said: "My lord, General Cai is an upright person. If it was really what he did, he would not deny it like this. You must not wrongly accuse a good person."
When Cheng Yu spoke like this, Cao Cao finally raised his forehead towards Xu Chu and signaled him to stop.
Cai Mao seized the opportunity and crawled towards Cao Cao, almost crying: "My lord, I will swear to the Heavenly Alliance that this will never happen. This...this..."
Seeing that Cai Mao was at a loss for words, Cheng Yu helped again, "Maybe it was Lin Mo's plan to alienate us. He just wanted us to have civil strife. When he broke through the ten divisions in Sizhou, he relied on a letter that was indistinguishable to make Ma Teng and Han Sui are killing each other, my lord must not be fooled."
"Ah, yes, yes, Mr. Cheng is right, this must be Lin Moshi's plan to alienate each other!" Cai Hao seemed to have grasped a life-saving straw, not even caring about his identity, kowtowing as if pounding garlic.
Cao Cao did not look at Cai Mao, but looked at Cheng Yu, and said suspiciously: "Then how can you prove that this is Lin Mo's divorce plan? If it is true, then my head may be taken by him at any time? "
Cheng Yu was startled, obviously there was no way to prove it, so he looked at Cai Mao.
I would rather teach me to betray the world than teach the world to betray me. Cai Mao now understands this sentence more deeply.
If he cannot prove his innocence, he may not be able to escape the knife that kills him today.
The problem is that there is no way to prove or overturn this kind of thing that is made out of nothing. How can Cai Mao prove it? He can only try his best to explain, "My lord, this must be a thief who imitated the general's handwriting. Please imagine, lord, if If the general is really going to surrender to the enemy, why not put a seal on him?"
Cao Cao just looked at him with his head sideways and said nothing, with disbelief written all over his face.
Cai Mao said again: "My lord, if the general really intends to surrender to the enemy, he will at least protect his family and children, and at least communicate with his subordinates. My lord can have someone investigate. If the general has any ulterior motives, there is no need for General Xu to take action. In the end, you will kill yourself!"
The sonorous and powerful assurance could not dispel Cao Cao's doubts. He still looked at Cai Mao coldly and remained indifferent.
"Mr. Cheng, please save me." Cai Mao, who had nothing to say, could only hold Cheng Yu's sleeve and pray.
"My lord, I cannot prove General Cai's innocence, but I am willing to believe in his character. Let me let General Cai write to the court in the name of the Commander-in-Chief of the Jingzhou Navy, praising the Lord, and scolding Lu Lin for coercing the emperor to order the princes. Your Majesty’s men are correcting the edict.”
Cheng Yu glanced at Cai Mao and continued: "It won't take long for this edict to be spread throughout the world, and then the world will know that General Cai is innocent."
Cao Cao's eyes lit up and he nodded with satisfaction, "This is a good idea."
Ah this
Cai Mao's heart went cold when he heard this. If he did this, he could indeed prove his innocence, but that would not mean that he had cut off his path to join Lin Mo.
With such a report, even if he sincerely defected to Lin Mo in the future, he would still be suspicious.
Of course Cai Mao didn't want to do this, but he couldn't help but now.
It is true that the Cai family has great influence in Jingzhou. If Cao Cao really takes action, he may not be able to deal with the aftermath, but if he takes out this letter, he may not be able to stop everyone from talking.
Cai Mao didn't dare to gamble, so he immediately handed over his hand and promised: "My lord, the general is willing to return to the government immediately to write a report!"
Cao Cao did not speak, but stood up and walked forward to help him up. Then he knelt down and patted the dust on his knees, which made Cai Hao a little flattered.
"Degui, don't blame me for being suspicious. We are in different places. What would you think after reading such a letter?" Cao Cao said with a painful look on his face.
"The general understands, and my lord please believe in the sincerity of the general." Cai Mao felt a little moved in his heart, and deeply understood Cao Cao's difficulty.
"Go ahead."
Cao Cao put his hands on his shoulders and said seriously: "If it is confirmed in the future that this is Lin Mo's alienation plan, I will personally apologize to you."
"I don't dare!" Cai Hao nodded, flicked his cloak, turned around and walked away quickly.
Looking at his back, the kindness on Cao Cao's face faded, and his eyes reflected Ling Lie's murderous intent.
"Hahaha"
It wasn't until Cai Mao left that Xu Chu burst out laughing, "The master frightened him half to death with just such a deceit. It seems that he really doesn't have the guts to surrender to the enemy."
"Do you think he doesn't want to vote?"
Cao Cao, who was clasping his hands behind his back, murmured coldly with half-closed eyes, "If I don't cut off this delusion as soon as possible, he will be the next Huang Zu."
After saying that, Cao Cao turned around and returned to the handsome chair.
Xu Chu frowned and glanced outside the hall, and then asked in confusion: "Since the Lord doesn't trust him, why not just take this opportunity to kill him and end it all?"
"Can't kill."
"My lord is afraid of the power of the Cai family?" Even Xu Chu knew how powerful the Cai family was in Jingzhou, so he asked subconsciously.
"The Cai family is nothing."
Cao Cao snorted disdainfully, and Cheng Yu, who was holding his hands in front of him, lowered his head and continued: "The Cai family is not scary. The scary thing is that under the general situation, they knew that he had evil intentions but could not kill him."
"I don't understand this." Xu Chu scratched his head.
Cheng Yu sighed and explained: "In the battle of Huainan, the navy generals in Jiangdong were almost completely destroyed, and the few remaining men could not hold big posts. In Jingnan, Huang Zu defected, and although Liu Bei had 20,000 men, he Master, but there is no general available.
And if Lu Lin goes south, there will definitely be a fierce naval battle on the Yangtze River. If Cai Mao is killed at this juncture, then even we will have no available naval generals. By then, no one can really stop Lu Lin from dominating the world. "
At this point, Xu Chu suddenly exclaimed, "That's why the lord planned such a plan, which can not only frighten Cai Hao, but also cut off his thoughts of surrendering to the enemy. How wonderful, haha, how wonderful!"
"When it comes to calculating people's hearts, I'm afraid I have to learn from Lin Mo." Cao Cao showed a wry smile.
After the four imperial edicts came down, it was enough to cause turmoil among the three parties. I have to say that this kid is better at using the emperor than me.
Who uses what imperial edict, and who doesn't use the imperial edict and it is more effective than using the imperial edict. He knows everything clearly. It's a good game.
"Lord."
Outside the hall, Wenpin ran in quickly, holding a bundle of bamboo slips in his hand, "General Xiahou came to report that the 10,000 Liu troops stationed in Wuling suddenly withdrew."
Hearing this, Cao Cao and Cheng Yu exchanged looks, both obviously confused.
What exactly does Liu Jun want to do? Release the empty Wuling City. Isn't he worried that he will take advantage of the situation?
Or is this a ploy to lure the enemy?
Liu Bei was driven to Baqiu by Liu Qi, but Cao Cao knew that in fact, Liu Qi would still be willing to listen to Liu Bei when it came to military and political choices, or at least listen to Zhuge Liang's words.
Therefore, this should not be Liu Qi's own act.
But what does this mean?
After hesitating for a while, Cao Cao's eyes lit up, and then he smiled with relief, "He is still a smart man."
After that, he stood up and walked towards Wenpin, "Zhongye, I was defeated in Sizhou and lost the two Central Plains states. People in Jingzhou are in a state of confusion, but I know that you have never wavered, and I will keep your thoughts in my heart. of."
"My lord, you are serious."
Wenpin cupped his hands and said: "Since the general is the leader, he can only do his best. Otherwise, he will die."
Wenpin was a loyal and courageous man, and Cao Cao truly believed this.
After Liu Biao's death, all civil and military officials from Jingzhou returned to surrender, but he was the only one who maintained his loyalty to Liu Biao and never took the initiative to show mercy. This shows that he is not a flattering person seeking glory.
Including the current turmoil between the two states, Wenpin never made any remarks from beginning to end. He just did his job in a down-to-earth manner. Who wouldn't love such a general.
"Zhongye, then, I want to do one more thing for you."
"Please give me your orders, my lord!"
"Go to Changsha for me." Cao Cao sighed.
"Changsha?"
Seeing Wenpin's confusion, Cao Cao explained: "Do you know what Liu Jun's sudden withdrawal of the Wuling garrison means?"
Wenpin shook his head.
"They also understand that Lu Lin's power is too great. If we continue to fight on our own, we will eventually be annexed. Especially after Huang Zu surrendered to the enemy, they no longer have any decent navy generals.
Therefore, the wisest choice now is to form an alliance against Lu Lin. "
Cao Cao paused and showed a hint of disdain, "But our uncle Liu Huang is based on benevolence and righteousness, and has repeatedly said that I am a national traitor, so how can he have the dignity to send envoys to ally with me.
Therefore, he withdrew the soldiers and horses from Wuling. This way he wanted to tell me that Jiangling did not need to station too many troops and should direct his strength towards Lulin in the north. "
Wenpin nodded suddenly, "So, my lord wants the last general to go to Changsha as an envoy to give Liu Bei and the others a step up?"
"That's not entirely true. After all, you are familiar with Liu Qi, and he can listen to your words." Cao Cao looked at the scenery outside the hall, looking a little lost.
In fact, in his heart, he still looked down on Liu Bei and Liu Qi.
Alliances without alliances are meaningless at all. The confrontation over the years cannot be eliminated by just a word of alliance.
But Cao Cao was still willing to do this, mainly because he really didn't have any extra troops to guard against Liu Bei.
What's more, Liu Bei still has 20,000 naval troops on hand. This is a force that cannot be underestimated.
Humans, when life and death are at stake, are always willing to put aside old grudges to protect themselves, and then talk about grievances with each other after the crisis has passed.
Cao Cao agreed with this.
"Don't worry, my lord, the general will definitely live up to his mission!" Wen Pin gave a sonorous and powerful assurance.
"Go ahead, I'll wait for your good news." Cao Cao patted his arm in a gesture of trust.
There is no way, now that the emperor is no longer in his hands, it is not so easy to reward his subordinates with any marquis position. More often, he can only show his trust and show favors.
My God, I have been using it for so many years and suddenly it is gone. I am really not used to it.
Xun Yu did not follow, but chose to turn back to Xuchang halfway.
All of this makes Cao Cao feel very unmotivated now.
When people are unhappy, they tend to think of past events and people who have left.
Dian Wei, Guo Jia, Xiahou Dun, Cao Xiu, Cao Chun, Li Dian, Le Jin.
Even Xun Yu left.
Old friends are withering away one after another, like leaves falling in the wind.
Fortunately, Lu Lin is now recuperating and building a naval warship, finally giving himself some time.
I just hope that in the next North-South showdown, I won't make the same mistake again.
(End of chapter)
