[Three Kingdoms] Seven steps into wetness

Between Ye and Xuchang, across the Yellow River.In consideration of Zhen Ji and the Bian family, and it was not too early, Cao Pi ordered everyone to rest at the river bank station for one night.Replenish your energy the next day, and then cross the river back.

Zhen Ji accompanied the Bian family, while Cao Pi led Cao Zhi to walk along the bank of the Yellow River.

This place is already the lower reaches of the Yellow River. Due to the long-term sedimentation of the river, the water potential of the Yellow River flowing through this place has gradually slowed down.However, for ordinary rivers, it is still full of rolling stones and turbulent waves.

The summer wind blows on the face, especially covered with the smell of river water.

I don’t know who will say in later generations, if you don’t see it, the water of the Yellow River will come up in the sky, and it will never return to the sea.Although I have seen it once when I came here, I still have feelings in my heart when I face this river.

Cao Pi suddenly said: "This place used to be where Yuan Shao lived, but now it belongs to my father. And my father's hegemony is by no means limited to this! No matter Jingzhou, or Jiangdong—in the near future, it will all belong to my father!"

When he said this sentence, it was sonorous and forceful, even overshadowing the sound of the river lapping on stones in front of him.

Then, Cao Pi held Cao Zhi's hand tightly.He lowered his head and stared at Cao Zhi, his eyes were burning, almost burning into Cao Zhi's heart: "And this is our world!"

It was dark.

Cao Zhi was lying on the bed, pinching his sore thighs from riding for a long time, still thinking about some messy things.

After a long time, he let out a long sigh of relief, closed his eyes and fell into the bed.

He opened his eyes suddenly.

—He heard some strange noises.

There is a slight neighing sound of the horse, which is normal, but why the sound is from far to near.He listened quietly for a while, and heard a very light and strange sound in the courtyard.

Cao Zhi frowned slightly.He gently opened the window and looked down.

With just this one glance, the pupils suddenly tightened!

There were more than a hundred elite cavalry standing not far away, and dozens of people were lying in disorder outside the court. Cao Zhi clearly saw that these were the night guards.In the dim light, it was impossible to distinguish who those people were.I just subconsciously feel...they are all dead!

A few people wearing their clothes opened the gate of the station and led the small team into it.

Cao Zhi clings to the coffin by the window, his blood gradually congeals.

With internal support, these people cannot be ordinary thieves.And who is it that actually wants to take advantage of the night to kill them all?

At this moment, it is at a critical moment, and it is definitely not the time to think about who.Cao Zhi suddenly woke up.He opened the door wide, and shouted "enemy attack" amidst the surprised expressions of the two guards beside the door.

Previously, most people thought that since the north is already the master of the world, no one would dare to offend, not to mention that there are nearly a hundred people guarding the court, and they are completely secret.As a result, most of the people in the station have fallen into a deep sleep, waiting to be awakened in the middle of the night to take over the vigil.

But with Cao Zhi's loud roar, the whole post station became a sensation.

Cao Pi didn't sleep well, and suddenly heard the sound and grabbed a coat and put it on.He first found Cao Zhi, saw that he was safe and sound and heard about the battle, then sent Zhen Ji to Bian's house and ordered more than ten people to protect him.

Of course, there is also something heard about the movement inside and outside the post station.However, the people outside did not rush in, but ordered to shoot arrows to kill.

Cao Pi ordered to rush out of the encirclement, seeing that all the people who rushed out in front were shot into hedgehogs, and they only twitched a few times before falling to the ground!

Cao Pi's face was pale.

When he realized it, he didn't have time to wipe off the cold sweat on his forehead, and ordered the gate to be locked.

But at this time, they lost dozens of people.

Cao Pi took a deep breath.He looked around with cold eyes: "What do you think?"

His eyes were like needles, and no one dared to look at him for a while.Someone swallowed his saliva and muttered, "The general thinks that we should surrender, surrender...ah—"

Before he finished speaking, the sword in Cao Pi's hand had pierced his chest, so he could only widen his eyes, as if he didn't expect Cao Pi to be so ruthless!

Cao Zhi has also calmed down.

He glanced at Cao Pi, saw his face was gloomy, held his hand and said calmly: "Surrender is absolutely impossible. They are menacing, and they look more like soldiers than robbers. So we have nothing but war There is death."

No one spoke, and the station was like a dead grave for a while.

Cao Zhi sighed: "The post station can protect us for a while, but in the long run it is no less than catching a turtle in an urn."

Cao Pi obviously understood the crisis, and forced himself to calm down, but there was still a tremor in his voice: "What's your plan?"

Everyone looked at each other in silence, only Cao Zhi's voice was as calm as ever: "Catch the thief first and capture the king."

As soon as this statement came out, everyone's eyes twitched.

But this sentence is easy to say, not to mention that they can't go out at all, even if they go out, they won't be able to reach the leader of the other party at all.

Before they could figure out how to capture the king, a burning iron arrow shot out from a room on the first floor, knocking over the oil lamp.

Everyone's complexion became paler.

—they wanted to burn them!

Cao Pi gritted his teeth and said, "Turn off the lights and go upstairs!"

It was dark in the station.

In everyone's room, unplug the rocket and put out the fire.Standing in Cao Zhi's room, he felt that the outside was as bright as day.

Now they are in the dark, and the enemy is in the light.

But there are not many archers among them, and there are not many crossbows and arrows, which will soon be used up.

More than a dozen people drew their bows and shot arrows, and screamed a few times. Four or five people from the enemy were shot off their horses, causing a commotion.However, the situation is not optimistic at this time, because there are at least a hundred people outside, and at least four rooms on the first floor of the inn have caught fire.

The fire grew bigger and bigger, and in a few moments they were all burned to death.

Cao Zhi took a deep breath.

He had already seen the commanding general, hiding among those people.

He took a bow and aimed at the enemy general.After a moment of stagnation, he suddenly withdrew his hand cleanly, and the arrow whizzed away.

Not long ago, he learned some archery skills and got a little rough.And these furs are also extremely important nowadays.

Since he has practiced martial arts, he has only taught dudes a lesson, and he has never killed anyone.But at this moment, he wished he could kill everyone on the enemy side with one arrow.

In times of crisis, people can always burst out with unlimited potential.So is Cao Zhi!There was a shrill scream in his ear, and Cao Zhi jumped for joy—he was shot!

But when he looked, he found that the arrow...was shot crookedly.

He aimed at the chest of the enemy general, but somehow he shot the eyes of the people around him.The man was in extreme pain, and covered his eye with one hand, while scratching people randomly with the other.In the panic, he firmly grabbed the leader beside him, and fell to the ground with a bang.

And their horses also neighed and were disturbed.One of them even stepped on the leader's chest and passed out suddenly.

Seeing that the leader fainted, the rest of the people were leaderless at once.Hearing Cao Pi take the opportunity to yell "Kill!", and the gate of the inn was opened and the white people rushed out, seven or eight adults turned around and ran away in an instant.

"..."

Seeing this farce, Cao Zhi almost knelt down.

He had guessed the beginning and the process, but he couldn't imagine the ending was that more than a hundred of them effortlessly captured the enemy leader alive and forced the group to retreat.

Cao Pi's eyes dimmed.He turned his head and stared at Cao Zhi who was still in a daze, thinking that Cao Zhi was frightened by the enemy, touched his head, smiled and said, "Fourth brother is good at arrows."

Cao Zhi has black lines all over his head.

Cao Pi has looked around.

All around are the corpses of soldiers in disorder, blood is flowing, and the breath is full of blood.After working hard to extinguish the fire at the post station, Cao Pi counted the number of people and found that more than half of them were killed or killed in the sneak attack.

He fought hard, wiped his face after all, and said coldly: "Bring that man up to me!"

The leader fainted to the ground, but the rest fled in all directions. This was obviously a mob rather than a dead man.From this point of view, these soldiers are just abandoned shrimps.

Who will be behind the scenes?

While Cao Zhi was still thinking, the poor general was woken up by a bucket of cold water.After he woke up, he insisted that he was originally Dong Zhuo's former subordinate, and that he fled in seclusion after Dong Zhuo's death.However, after he returned, the whole family was killed by Cao Cao!He naturally wanted to kill Cao Cao to make up for the loss of his family.

Is bento really that simple?

When this person spoke, no matter his expression or tone, he was sad and indignant, but when he talked about the assassination, there was still some flickering between his words, probably to cover up the people behind the scenes.

Cao Pi naturally saw it clearly.

He ordered people to use torture, and tortured this person until he was half dead, before prying out the name of Emperor Liu Xie from his mouth.

Cao Zhi let out a long breath when he heard it.

- It's him again!

He obviously thought of Liu Xie's order to arrest them when he was seven years old.Thinking about it so far, not only can't help but laugh-could it be that Liu Xie did such a stupid thing?

Cao Zhi was full of doubts.

Now that the north is all under Cao Cao's pocket, and Liu Xie is powerless, it is impossible to follow the old history to assassinate them, right?And if Liu Xie wants to move, wouldn't it be better to wait for Cao Cao to conquer Wuhuan in the north, and then take the opportunity to control the Cao Mansion in Xuchang?

And although these people came from the other side of the Yellow River, it is not ruled out that they are deceiving people.

If it is to deceive the eyes and ears...

Regardless of whether Cao Pi believes it or not, Cao Zhi does not believe it.He then said: "Second brother, why don't you report this matter to your father and let him decide."

Cao Pi thought for a moment and nodded in response.He ordered people to send the general who had fainted again to Yecheng overnight.

When Cao Cao learned of this, he was furious in the hall.Fortunately, after hearing that the four members of the Bian family were all fine, they restrained their anger.

At this time, Cao Pi and others were still waiting for a response by the Yellow River, so Cao Cao ordered Zhang Liao to lead another [-] soldiers to escort them.

He naturally didn't believe that the person behind the scenes belonged to Liu Xie, so he ordered Cao Ren to investigate thoroughly.Combined with the clues, and then analyzed by counselors, the answer obtained is also very suitable for the current situation-although this person is General Dong Zhuo, he took refuge in Gongsun Zan in his early years.Later, Gongsun Zan was destroyed by Yuan Shao and became a moderate official in Youzhou, so he was ignored by Cao Cao.

And his assassination this time is also related to the Wuhuan clan.

Wuhuan has had a special relationship with the Xiongnu since ancient times, and the courts of all dynasties have had a headache facing this brave and warlike tribe.During the chaos during the Zhongping period, Zhang Ju, Zhang Chun and others used Wuhuan in Youzhou to rebel, looting Qing, Xu, You, and Ji prefectures, and massacring the people.And Yuan Shao even made his chief commander Shan Yu, and he regarded his family and children as his daughter and wife.Wuhuan Tadun in western Liaoning was particularly powerful, and once helped Yuan Shao destroy Gongsun Zan.

When Cao Cao captured Nanpi in the past, Wuhuan was ready to move.But Yuan Tan and Yuan Shang defected, and even said that Ta Dun, the leader of Wuhuan, was increasingly dissatisfied with the land of Youzhou, oppressing Xianyu and assisting Yu Luping.

Wuhuan naturally knew that Cao Cao would rescue Luping.But what if Cao Cao's elder son was killed by Liu Xie at this time?

It's a pity that this plan failed. Apart from becoming more and more angry, Cao Cao was as calm as ever.

With a sneer all over his face, he sat down calmly and discussed with his advisors how to deal with Wuhuan.

——There is naturally only one answer, and that is war!

But what kind of tactics?

Guo Jiadao: "Wuhuan is far away, so it is definitely not prepared. Our army should be caught by surprise, so that even if we go deep alone, we will be able to defeat them."

Guo Jia said this because now Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan have finished the Yuan family, even if they rely on Wuhuan, there will be no disturbances.It's just that they have just regained Yizhou now, and they have no intention of calming down the generals of Yizhou.If they advance rashly, Liu Bei who is stationed in Xinye will definitely not let go of such a good opportunity to persuade Liu Biao to hope for Xuchang.

If so, aren't they in an embarrassing situation?

Xun Yu immediately frowned and objected.

Guo Jia, however, has already made up his mind.

He smiled and said: "Yes, now is definitely not a good time to march north to Wuhuan. Therefore, our army should wait for one to two years."

Cao Cao frowned and said, "Why?"

Guo Jiadao: "The relationship between the Yuan family and Wuhuan is very different today, and Yuan Shao has occupied Yizhou for many years, and the people still have feelings for the Yuan family. If the lord let Yuan Shang go today, and when he develops strength in the future, the people and barbarians will respond. At that time, it will no longer be easy to restrain him."

Cao Cao nodded: "That's right, that's right."

Guo Jia went on to say: "Ta Dun is tired and dedicated to Fu and Luping. I can see that it can last for a few months. Our army will take the opportunity to recover Yuan Shao's old army, and then send troops to Luping. At that time, Wuhuan will flee outside the Great Wall out of fear. .When they come back again, it will be time for our army to go deep."

The land outside the Great Wall is bitterly cold, and there are Xianbei Huns, Wuhuan must not be able to bear it.When they returned to Youzhou, they were exhausted.Why not take the opportunity to attack the past?

Everyone understands.

Guo Jia finally said: "As for Liu Bei, there is nothing to worry about. Because he is attached to Liu Biao, but Liu Biao will not reuse him."

Cao Cao was delighted to hear that.

He ordered that all the generals scattered outside after Yuan Shao's death be arrested and returned to Ye, and those who did not surrender would have their entire clan killed.Under such thunderous means, almost all of Yuan Shao's old troops belonged to Cao Cao's command within two months, except for some diehard loyalists.

Then Cao Cao bestowed rewards on a few of them, which gradually calmed down the fear of these people.

In autumn and August, Cao Cao led the army to conquer and save Luping.

Shi Karasuma ran away and fled outside the Great Wall.

When Cao Cao attacked Yecheng, Gao Gan, Yuan Shao's nephew, surrendered and was promoted to Bingzhou Shepherd.Hearing that Cao Cao was begging for Karasuma to rebel in Merger Prefecture, he raised his troops to guard the Huguan Pass.