As long as the lord is happy, what if he licks his face and becomes a beggar?

If a surrendered general wants to gain a foothold in Cao Ying, besides not being afraid of death and daring to fight hard, the most important thing he should put aside is his face.

Zhang Liao lived a more transparent life than others, so he was more favored by Cao Cao.

When Da Ma arrived at the foot of Hefei City, the barbecue activity on the city tower was coming to an end.

There was a lack of feed and grain in this era, and pigs raised to be slaughtered were much lighter than those in later generations.

Half a fan of pork only weighs about 100 kilograms, and the quality of the meat is relatively high compared to those raised intensively. The tiger guards had to take turns to savor the meat.

To be full on meat alone? That’s Long Xiang’s nonsense.

Thinking that Cao Cao might send someone here, after all, there isn't much meat in a pig's trotter, and finally saw his old friend Zhang Liao.

Long Xiang didn't have any deep likes or dislikes towards Zhang Liao.

Being diplomatic is not a sin, on the contrary, this kind of emotional intelligence is worthy of respect, and he also has some friendship with Guan Yu.

Making friends is not a bad thing.

At that time, there were two roasted ribs left. Long Xiang wanted to give them to Xiaoqiao to try, but thinking that Qiaoyu and Chen were not enough, he simply gave them to Zhang Liao as a favor.

It’s a perfect send-off to Cao Jun’s ‘Plague Gods’, and it’s worth killing a few more pigs to have a barbecue to celebrate.

Now that he had two ribs, Zhang Liao shared one with his two guards and left one back as a gift to Cao Cao so that he could have a good time.

Cao Cao was a master who would not let himself suffer. He once said, "I would rather betray others than others betray me."

When there was only one piece of rib, Cao Cao would not give it to his subordinates to win people's hearts like Liu Bei did, but would take it in his hand and eat it calmly.

He thought that sharing it back and forth was too hypocritical, so it was better to kill a few pigs in Shouchun and enjoy the meal.

However, there were few people in Shouchun, and it was a problem for people to survive. There were no people to raise pigs at all.

Xiahou Dun sent people to nearby Xiacai and Quyang to search, but still no barbecue celebration banquet was arranged for Cao Cao.

Cao Cao was full of hope but failed, so he did not plan to stop in Shouchun and continue his journey north. However, the guard Xiahou Dun was still wounded by an arrow at this time, and he was not very good at commanding the troops, so he had to choose a new general to stay and guard.

At that time, everyone thought it was Xia Houyuan, but Cao Cao unexpectedly chose Zhang Liao.

Facing the strange looks from the officials, Cao Cao stroked his beard and encouraged Zhang Liao.

"This time in Huainan, many troops from Jiangdong were eliminated, and all the people in the south of Lujiang were relocated. Sun Quan was unable to pose a threat to Shouchun in a short period of time. Now only the Hefei family has some strength in Huainan;

Wenyuan can live in harmony with Long Xiang for the time being. As for Mei Cheng, who is entrenched in Lushan Mountain, it is just a disease. If you can, destroy it. If you can't, don't worry about it. Just let Huainan maintain the status quo. When I defeat Yuan Shao, I will go south.

"

"Don't worry, my lord, Zhang Liao will do his best."

"You have this ability, just keep doing it."

Cao Cao nodded slightly, and then looked at the governor Liu Fu: "Right now, the people's livelihood in Huainan is in decline, especially the people on the Huai River. There is not even a single household raising pigs. This time I moved tens of thousands of people from the south, just look at Yuan Ying

How to cultivate and live with the people? Now most of the cargo ships transported by water have been burned. It is time-consuming and laborious to transport grain from the rear. You must try your best to be self-sufficient."

"Only." Liu Fu agreed.

Upon seeing this, Cao Cao nodded with satisfaction. He suddenly remembered something, so he called Zhang Liao again, with a solemn look on his face: "This time your troops suffered a lot of casualties. There are only more than 2,000 people left in our headquarters, right?"

"Two thousand six hundred and seventy-three." Zhang Liao was accurate to single digits.

"Yes." Cao Cao stroked his beard and confirmed: "It is true that the losses were greater than those of other battalions. Except for the original two thousand garrison troops in Shouchun, I will not leave any more troops for you to defend. You are allowed to recruit troops on your own when conditions permit. The period of recuperation is just right.

train."

Zhang Liao clasped his fists and replied sonorously: "I will obey your orders. If there are plans to recruit troops, I will inform Governor Liu in advance and write a letter to the lord to report."

"Okay. Let's all leave and have a good night's rest. We'll set off tomorrow morning."

Cao Cao was very satisfied with Zhang Liao's answer and was in a good mood. He waved for everyone to leave, but secretly looked at Xiahou Dun to stay.

Xiahou Dun understood and stayed until the end. When everyone walked out of the hall, he looked back and asked:

"Mengde, do you still have an explanation?"

"How did Li Mancheng perform in Shouchun?" Cao Cao suddenly asked his general Li Dian.

Xiahou Dun thought for a while and replied: "This person is steady, cautious, and likes to read. He has no other shortcomings except that he is timid."

"That's good?" Cao Cao then said seriously: "You will tell him for me later that he will stay and serve as Zhang Liao's deputy general, and we must ensure that Shouchun is safe."

"But Lu Bu attacked Yanzhou at that time. Zhang Liao helped Lu Bu kill many Li family members. Li Dian and Zhang Liao had a family feud. Meng De left him as deputy general. Wouldn't Shouchun be fighting among his own people?" Xiahou Dun frowned.

Look at Cao Cao.

Cao Cao smiled mysteriously: "I arranged this on purpose. Zhang Wenyuan has too much power, and we cannot take care of Huainan for a long time. Leaving Li Pian as deputy general can serve as a check and balance."

"Hey, that's it. I'll explain it right away."

After saying this, Xiahou Dun turned around and left. As soon as he reached the entrance of the palace, he turned back and reminded: "Don't worry, Meng De. I will tell them later that this is my suggestion."

"well."

Cao Cao nodded in affirmation at first, and when Xiahou Dun's back disappeared from the door, he shook his head and sighed: "My family is still reliable, and they know how to share my worries without reminding me."

After sitting blankly on the main seat for a while, Cao Cao got up and was about to return to the back hall to rest, when Cao Xiu suddenly rushed in again.

"Is something wrong?"

"Xuzhou Governor Dong sent an urgent report."

"Oh? Come and see, is there another rebellion in Xuzhou?"

Cao Cao took the small bag containing the silk book and unfolded it to discover that there was something else in Dong Zhao's report: when Chen Deng was ordered to march into Guangling, his old illness suddenly relapsed and he retreated to Dongcheng. Hearing that the illness was serious and life-threatening, Chen Gui not only hurried there

Dongcheng also ordered people to prepare for his funeral in Xiapi.

"That's it!" Cao Cao suddenly realized.

Seeing Cao Xiu's curious face, Cao Cao stroked his beard to explain:

"Chen Yuanlong was suffering from serious illness and his life was in danger, so he withdrew his troops from Guangling in advance. This explains the source of Zhou Yu's reinforcements. It turned out that they were transferred from the Guangling garrison. This army is really impeccable."

Cao Xiu nodded in agreement: "If it weren't for Chen Deng to resist in the southeast, Zhou Yu might have broken through the Guangling line. Now that Chen Deng's condition is so serious, who can replace him and garrison in the east city? This county was specially set up by the lord for Chen Deng."

Cao Cao frowned: "I remember that Chen Gui also has a son. If Chen Deng unfortunately dies this time, he can only temporarily let his younger brother take over as the prefect."

"Can he do it?" Cao Xiu looked confused.

Cao Cao snorted coldly: "You have to do it even if you don't. The situation in Xuzhou is complicated. I can only reuse the Chen family. Others can't do it at all. I will immediately revise Dong Gongren (Dong Zhao) and ask him to act accordingly."

According to Cao Cao, Chen Gui's youngest son, Chen Deng's younger brother, was named Chen Ying. Unfortunately, he was once taken hostage by Yuan Shu.

Just ten days after Cao Cao left Shouchun, Chen Ying was unfortunately detained by Tang Wei, who had just returned to Fei, and became a prisoner again.
Chapter completed!