Chapter 225 Cao Cao's dream of fox and tiger Sun Lang is courageous!
Chapter 225 Cao Cao dreams of foxes and tigers, Sun Lang is brave!
In April of the 11th year of Jian'an, Chenliu County, Chendu, Sikong Mansion.
It was early summer, and Cao Cao stumbled out of the study a little early in the morning. Recently, he liked to read in the study and did not stay overnight in the backyard.
Xu Chu outside the door saw that he was in a daze, so he quickly went up and asked, "Sikong, what's wrong?"
"The lone-headed syndrome has struck again."
Cao Cao felt an unbearable headache and said, "Fugu will go to the small house in the back garden to rest, and then send someone to Qiao County to tell Hua Tuo to come."
"only."
Some of the several attendants helped him to the backyard, while others went to the county government office to deliver official documents.
This kind of official document must be issued by the government. There is a special state official to report to Cao Shi to deliver the letter, which is the position that Taishi Ci held in his early years. Then the local government will send someone to find Hua Tuo.
When Cao Cao arrived at the small building in the back garden, he lay down on a fallen log and rested for a long time. With a splitting headache, he finally fell into a numb sleep.
I woke up in the afternoon, covered in cold sweat, and felt that the wind in my head had suddenly disappeared, as if I had recovered.
"Ming Gong."
Guo Jia and Cheng Yu, who were guarding the outer hall of the small building, heard the movement inside and immediately entered the inner room.
Seeing that it was the two of them, Cao Cao sat up from the wooden collapse and panted heavily. There was a maid beside him who helped wipe the sweat from his forehead. After a while, it subsided, and then he let the maid leave.
"Fengxiao, Zhongde, you are here."
Cao Cao calmed down. He was wearing white silk pajamas. Since it was a little hot in summer, he took a black silk cloak from the hanger and put it on. He put on his clogs and walked slowly to the main seat in the outer hall.
Sit down.
Guo Jia and Cheng Yu followed him to the outer hall. After Cao Cao asked them to sit down, they sat on the left and right of Cao Cao. Guo Jia cupped his hands and said, "What's wrong with Mr. Ming?"
"I was reading in the study until midnight last night. I fell asleep in a daze. I felt like there was a fox humming in my ears. I woke up this morning with a splitting headache."
Cao Cao frowned and said: "I just thought that I had a bad headache again, so I went to a small building to rest. Unexpectedly, I saw tigers roaring in the forest again in my sleep, and there seemed to be the sound of rolling thunder. I could vaguely see the nine-tailed silver fox and the platinum tiger.
After I got up, the wind in my head suddenly disappeared, but I felt much more comfortable."
Tigers roar and foxes groan?
Cheng Yu looked at Guo Jia, but Guo Jia looked happy and said, "Good luck, Ming Gong."
"oh?"
Cao Cao wondered: "Where does good luck come from?"
"The nine-tailed fox was seen when Liuhe came together. During the reign of King Wen, the eastern barbarians returned. The white tiger was one of the five auspicious beasts. When the Holy King felt the time, he would rise up, and there would be white tigers roaring in the morning and thunder in the fields."
Guo Jia explained: "This indicates that someone will come to join Ming Gong, and the north will also be pacified."
"Report!"
As soon as he finished speaking, someone came to report outside the door: "Sikong, General Duan sent an official document saying that Ma Teng is willing to surrender to the imperial court and send a hostage to Chendu."
"Hahahahaha."
Cao Cao laughed, waved his hand and said, "Go."
"only."
Wait for the attendant to leave.
Cao Cao then looked at Guo Jiacheng Yu on his left and said: "It seems that this dream is indeed auspicious. A few days ago, Zhong Yao sent a letter saying that Han Sui defeated Ma Teng and Ma Teng is very likely to join the imperial court. It has indeed come true."
After the last time they defeated the Kwantung Allied Forces through counterintuitive tactics, Han Sui, Ma Teng and others ran back to Guanzhong, fighting on their own, attacking each other and fighting.
Due to the conflicts between Han Sui and Ma Teng in the early years, Han Sui killed Ma Teng's wife. The two had long had a grudge against each other, but it was only Zhong Yao and others who intervened that prevented a full-scale outbreak.
But after Cao Cao defeated the Kwantung Allied Forces, his long-standing resentment suddenly erupted.
So starting from last year, the civil strife in Guanzhong continued. Ma Teng was not as powerful as Han Sui, and he was beaten and fled to Hedong.
At this time, he probably could not withstand the pressure, and was finally forced to choose to ask for assistance from Duan Yan, who was stationed in Shaanxi County, and expressed his willingness to surrender to the court.
Cheng Yu said: "Ming Gong, the people of Xiliang are capricious. Ma Teng and Han Sui are all the same. Surrendering now is just a last resort. Even if you send a hostage, you may not be able to believe it. If you let him enter the court as an official,
We sent people to take over his tribe."
Guo Jia also said: "At this time, Ma Teng is at the end of his rope. If he cannot return to the imperial court, he will be killed by Han Sui. We can just let Captain Sili return to Guanzhong and guard the east of the river to get a glimpse of Chang'an."
"Hmm"
Cao Cao pondered for a moment, this plan was just adding insult to injury.
Because Ma Teng is in a bad situation now and is already a mortal enemy of Han Sui, Han Sui will not accept his request for reconciliation, so external forces must intervene.
During the last rebellion between Han Sui and Ma Teng, Zhong Yao was driven out of Chang'an. Now he is still in Luoyang, serving as the western barrier for the imperial court.
Now that there is civil strife in Guanzhong, it is better to seize this opportunity to seize Ma Teng's military power. Let Zhong Yao return to Chang'an, and then let him, Duan Xuan and the generals in Guanzhong who are willing to defect to the imperial court fight Han Sui.
Thinking of this, Cao Cao nodded and said: "Okay, I will leave this matter to Yuan Chang. I will write a letter later and send someone to Luoyang to ask Yuan Chang to negotiate with Ma Teng."
After settling Ma Teng's matter, Guo Jia said again: "I came here with Mr. Zhongde today to report something about the north."
"explain."
"These days there have been unusual movements in Yecheng. We should receive news from our inner circle in Yecheng that Yuan Shang is mobilizing food and grass. I am afraid that he wants to take advantage of the fact that most of our troops are in the south to wipe out Yuan Tan in one fell swoop."
"oh?"
Cao Cao's eyes flashed and he said: "Then in this battle, do we have a chance to take advantage of it?"
At the beginning, Cao Cao followed Guo Jia's strategy and chose to deploy more troops in Runan and Yingchuan areas, saying that he wanted to guard against Liu Biao who proclaimed himself emperor in the south.
Since Liu Biao rejected Sun Quan in the east and attacked Liu Zhang in the west, he has become a hegemon in the south, and his power can be said to have reached its peak.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, Liu Biao also successfully proclaimed himself emperor. He was obviously gambling with God that he could live a few more years. When he eliminated Liu Zhang and Sun Quan and stabilized the south, he would be free to deal with internal troubles among his heirs.
By that time, Cao Cao will probably only get Jizhou at most, and maybe he won't even get Jizhou yet. After all, with Liu Xian's current strength, he will be able to pacify the entire south in less than three years.
So on the surface Cao Cao was guarding against Liu Biao, but in fact he had been coveting Jizhou in the north. On the surface, he was moving his troops to the south, but in fact he was always observing Yuan.
Hearing that the two Yuans were likely to fight again this year, Cao Cao immediately became excited. Once he reaped the benefits, he could annex the entire Jizhou in one fell swoop.
Guo Jia said: "According to internal information, Yuan Shang obviously intends to completely eliminate Yuan Tan this time. However, high-ranking cadres in Bingzhou have also recruited many troops to come. It is very likely that many soldiers will be left behind in Yecheng, so he wants to
If you take advantage of the situation, it may be difficult."
"Um."
Cao Cao nodded slightly. He also knew that he could not make a fat man with just one bite. Yuan Shao left Yuan Shang and Yuan Tan with too much wealth. Moreover, there was Yuan Xi, the governor of Youzhou, and Gao Gan, the governor of Bingzhou. It would not be that simple to wipe out these people.
Guo Jia added: "However, it is still possible to take this opportunity to weaken Yuan Shang. We pretended to go north to surround Yecheng, but in fact we marched to the front line and attacked Yuan Shang together with Yuan Tan."
"Fengxiao wants to force Yuan Shang to return to help Yecheng, and then when he is forced to withdraw his troops, let's take the opportunity to join forces with Yuan Tan to attack Yuan Shang."
Cao Cao asked.
Guo Jia said: "Exactly."
"good."
Cao Cao said: "Just do it as a filial piety."
The three of them then discussed some specific matters and after confirming the plan, the meeting ended.
After leaving Situ's residence, Cheng Yu said to Guo Jia: "Fengxiao, Mr. Cao's dream today is quite strange."
"There's nothing strange about it. The theory of dreams is meant to be judged by people, so what's so strange about it?"
Guo Jia smiled, but there was a hint of sadness in his brows.
Cheng Yu looked at him seriously and said softly: "I heard that the famous southern scholar Sima Huipo was good at fortune-telling. He named a man named Zhuge Liang Wolong, a man named Pang Tong Fengchu, and there was another person at the same time.
He has two self-titles, which are Dragon Tiger and Silver Fox."
"This is just a prophecy from a fortune teller, it cannot be taken to be true." Guo Jia waved his hand: "Back then, Yuan Shu also found a fortune teller and said he had the appearance of an emperor. So what happened in the end?"
Saying that, he turned and left.
Looking at his leaving figure, Cheng Yu frowned slightly. Guo Jia would encourage Mr. Cao, but is it really appropriate to only report good things but not bad things?
But when I think about it, it is just a dream after all, and the things in dreams are indeed sometimes not necessarily true or false, so I left.
．
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While Cao Cao was planning the north, the south was in gloom and gloom.
In the Chengdu Mansion of Shu County, Yizhou, Liu Zhang, who had been in a bad mood recently, gathered many of his confidants in the mansion to discuss important matters.
Liu Zhang's power has been declining in the past two years. It turns out that although the northern part of Bajun was occupied by Zhang Lu, at least most of the territory in the southern part of Bajun was still in his hands.
Now we simply lost Jiangzhou. The population and strength under the rule were greatly reduced, and we could only be trapped in Shu County, Guanghan and Qianwei.
Under this situation, Liu Zhang sighed every day, regretting that he had to form an alliance with Sun Quan to jointly attack Liu Biao.
"Ming Gong, Liu Biao's ambition is to dominate the south, seize Yizhou and Jiangdong, and then go north to conquer the world. Even if we don't attack Liu Biao, Liu Biao will attack us. Life or death is the only way to survive."
Wang Shang, the governor of Shu County and an official in the state capital, said: "The current situation is indeed unfavorable to us, but Zhang Lu and Liu Biao are fighting in Ba County. This is our opportunity."
"oh?"
Liu Zhang quickly asked: "When is the time?"
Wang Shang looked around and said with a smile: "Zhang Lu and Liu Biao will never dare to attack us if they decide the winner. But once they decide the winner and drive each other out of Yizhou, they will immediately turn around and attack Chengdu, so we
We must not sit still and wait for death, we should wait for the moment to take action, take advantage of them when they decide the winner, and repel them at the same time."
"Yes, now Liu Biao and Zhang Lu are strong and we are weak. However, if they want to attack us, they will not be able to tell the winner in a short time. I am afraid that even if they win, it will be a miserable victory. Therefore, they will choose to go south first and then move to the south, defeating the strong enemy and then attacking the weak one."
, but we are definitely not people who can be preyed upon by them."
"Ming Gong can first reorganize his troops secretly and gather troops to garrison Mianzhu. If Liu Biao wins, he can go south along the Yangtze River and take Jiangzhou directly. If Zhang Lu wins, his troops can be divided into two groups, marching all the way from Jiameng Pass and eastward to Ju.
Township. Go all the way to Langzhong and go straight to Hanchang."
"This strategy is good. We can definitely defeat Liu Biao and Zhang Lu. However, our troops are insufficient. Is it inappropriate to divide the troops into two groups?"
"Then let's think about it again."
In the hall, Chen Shi, Gong Yang, Zhao Min, Li Jing, Wang Dan, Meng Biao and others were talking a lot.
They still gave some more pertinent suggestions.
The current situation is like the boss and the second child fighting, while the third child is watching the show.
It's just that the eldest and second child are somewhat evenly matched, and although the third child is weaker, it's not much weaker.
Therefore, once the boss and the second child stop fighting and come to attack the third child, the other party may really reap the benefits.
Therefore, in the eyes of Zhang Lu and Liu Biao, whoever defeats the other party will get Yizhou.
But Liu Zhang's subordinates obviously did not intend to sit still and wait for death.
After all, once Zhang Lu is beaten back to Hanzhong, or Liu Biao is beaten back to Jingzhou, then his 30,000 troops will have to face the enemy's army of more than 50,000 to 60,000.
Therefore, his subordinates all suggested that instead of waiting for death, he should take the initiative and wait for the opponent to decide the winner, then attack decisively, and defeat the opponent in one fell swoop while Zhang Lu or Liu Biao were still immersed in the joy of victory.
Of course, this is definitely more risky. The more prudent option is to continue to hold on to Chengdu. It will take Zhang Lu and Liu Biao several years to break Chengdu's dangers, so it depends on whether Liu Zhang has the courage.
"Take the initiative?"
Liu Zhang hesitated, looked around and said: "Our troops and horses are weak now. After the defeat of Zigui, the morale of the soldiers is unstable. I'm afraid it will be difficult to maintain. Let's forget it."
"Ming Gong!"
Wang Shang was shocked and said: "If we don't take advantage of the situation when the two tigers are fighting, we may have endless troubles."
"Forget it, forget it."
Liu Zhang waved his hand: "I will stick to Chengdu. If they can't break it, they will retreat. That's it for today."
"Ming Gong, you must not show weakness at this time."
"Ming Gong should be more decisive."
"Ming Gong."
Everyone wanted to persuade them again, but Liu Zhang had made up his mind and would not listen to them anymore.
Because of his cowardice, everyone was disappointed and left.
Only Zhang Song’s eyes flickered.
Liu Zhang is really too weak. Although taking the initiative is extremely risky, if it succeeds, it will at least stabilize Yizhou.
More importantly, if Zhang Lu is crippled, Hanzhong may be recovered.
However, he missed the opportunity and would rather divide his troops to defend the counties around Chengdu than gather his troops to take advantage of the conflict between the two tigers.
This shows that this person is definitely not the Mingzhu of Yizhou.
Under Liu Zhang's rule, Yizhou may not have a chance to get ahead, so it will have to find other heroes.
Zhang Lu?
Liu Biao?
Let's wait and see.
Zhang Song slowly walked out of the hall.
What's left is full of disappointment in Liu Zhang.
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The eleventh year of Jian'an in Jiangdong was not easy.
Strictly speaking, although Shen Chen released a flood, the number of casualties was only over 10,000.
However, the floods were accompanied by epidemics, so that many surviving soldiers in Jiangdong were infected with the plague, and there were many subsequent casualties, making Jiangdong even more miserable.
And then rebellions broke out all over Jiangdong, and countless people from Shanyue and the already unstable aristocratic families in Jiangdong raised weapons.
Sun Quan personally led the army to conquer the east and west, and with the help of Lu Su, Zhang Zhao and others, they managed to pacify the situation.
Immediately after Liu Biao proclaimed himself emperor at the beginning of this year, which shocked the south, many aristocratic families in Jiangdong who ostensibly submitted to Sun Quan secretly exchanged stories with Liu Biao, which made him exhausted mentally and physically.
The only good news is that Zhou Yu rested for more than half a year and his condition improved a lot. He suggested to Sun Quan that he should go north to the imperial court and become a minister, formed an alliance with Cao Cao, won many political victories, and was appointed as the shepherd of Yangzhou.
His previous official positions were General of Zhennan, Prefect of Kuaiji, and Marquis of Wu. Among them, only the Marquis of Wu had the highest title and occupied the southeast. His official position was always somewhat unfair.
Now that he was appointed as the shepherd of Yangzhou, he gained a lot of political benefits. It became justifiable to occupy Yangzhou, which solidified the foundation of his rule and gained many benefits.
Cao Cao never gave him the official position of a prince's territory. For example, when Liu Bei's territory was Xuzhou, he would refer to him as Yuzhou Mu. Later, Sun Quan's territory was in Yangzhou, and he would refer to him as Xuzhou Mu.
This time, Cao Cao actually chose to give Sun Quan such a huge political benefit. It was a very big concession, which was enough to show his eagerness to stabilize the south and then annex the north.
The same is true for Sun Quan. He has no interest in going north to seize Cao Cao's territory now. It would be a blessing to stabilize his own territory and not be destroyed by Liu Biao.
So Cao Cao and Sun Quan entered a honeymoon period. The two parties frequently exchanged letters, just like two patients who were admitted to the ICU by Shen Chen.
.
At the end of April, Zhou Yu's condition had improved a lot, so Sun Quan summoned the governor Zhou Yu, Yangzhou shepherd chief Shi Zhang Zhao, Zan military commander Lu Su, left Sima Gu Yong, right Sima Teng Dan, and newly promoted middle Sima Zhuge Jin to discuss the matter.
Originally, Sun Quan was not qualified to open a government, but after becoming the governor of the state, he had the power to open a government. The shogunate had a long history, a Sima, a bookkeeper, and other services, and there were quite a lot of talents.
After everyone gathered at the Yangzhou Mu Mansion, Sun Quan looked around, looked at Zhou Yu, Zhang Zhao, Lu Su and the others, and said in a deep voice: "Recently, the defenders at Wankou came to report that there are sawdust flowing down the river every day. I expect that after the old thief Liu Biao proclaims himself emperor,
, If you still want to destroy me Jiangdong, I am afraid that you are building ships and preparing to go south."
Zhou Yu had just recovered from a serious illness, his face was slightly pale, and he said: "As a report a few days ago, the old thief Huang secretly returned to Jiangxia and is training the navy. I'm afraid Liu Biao has expanded his military for him. At the end of this year, it should be the time for him to enter the army.
hour."
"It seems that we must deal with it in advance, but now that Jiangdong is newly defeated, the morale of the soldiers is low. Even if we defend, we don't know whether we can defend it. Now that Cao Cao is stationing troops in Runan, Yingchuan, it is better to go to the imperial court."
Zhang Zhao suggested: "If Cao Cao can provide reinforcements and he attacks Nanyang to contain Liu Biao, and we fight with Huang Zu in Yuzhang, we will definitely be able to retreat when Liu Biao faces difficulties."
"good."
Lu Su also said: "Liu Biao seems to be powerful, but it is difficult to fight on three sides. Now he sends people to attack Yizhou and attack Zhang Lu, hoping to capture Xichuan. This is a good time to recruit Cao Cao. We have naval forces. If
Attacked from three sides, Cao Cao can capture most of Nanyang, Zhang Lu can capture Xichuan, and we can capture most of Jingzhou."
Everyone looked at Lu Su, but they didn't expect that his appetite was so big. Others were still thinking about joining forces with Cao Cao, Zhang Lu, Liu Zhang and others to repel the invading Liu Biao, but he had already thought about how to divide Jingzhou after defeating Liu Biao.
Don’t people care about the actual situation?
Only Zhou Yu said with a smile: "Zijing is right. The old thief is nearly seventy years old and his death is imminent. As soon as he dies, Jingzhou will fall apart. There are a pack of wolves waiting around. Who can take away a piece of meat will depend on him."
Who has such courage!"
This is all about strategy.
Everyone was looking at the tactics and thinking about how to defeat Liu Biao.
But Zhou Yu and Lu Su believed that Liu Biao was too old. Once he died, Jingzhou, a seemingly strong giant, would collapse instantly.
Then the three parties will attack at the same time. It depends on who can eat the cake of Jingzhou.
Zhou Yu and Lu Su both believed that if Cao Cao's army was strong, he would definitely capture Nanyang. If their navy was strong, then everything south of Nanyang would belong to Sun Quan.
As for the lord of Xichuan, Liu Zhang is now too busy to take care of himself. Even if Zhang Lu defeats the troops sent by Liu Biao to annex Xichuan, he still has to devour Liu Zhang first, so Xichuan is unable to come to Jingzhou to share the meat.
This is the conclusion drawn by everyone's different ways of looking at the problem.
It seems that the future is promising, but the main problem now is that Liu Biao was still strong and glorious before his death, so how can we withstand his last attack?
Sun Quan said: "The capture of Jingzhou is too far away. The most urgent task is how to resist the attack of Huang Zu's old thief."
"Marquis Wu should contact Cao Cao immediately. Of course, we can't pin our hopes on him."
Zhou Yu muttered: "I heard that Shen Chen has resigned and returned home. This is a good time for us to defeat Huang Zu. We should show the enemy's weakness, lure the enemy deeper, and annihilate the old thief Huang Zu in one fell swoop!"
"Then let's arrange it."
Sun Quan said in a deep voice: "I want to go to Wankou in person and swear to live or die with Jiangdong!"
"only!"
Everyone bowed their hands in unison.
This is the difference between Sun Quan and Liu Zhang.
Liu Zhang was cowardly and did not dare to take the initiative to attack. But Sun Quan was courageous and dared to risk his life and survive.
Now.
Cao Cao, Liu Zhang, Sun Quan and others all had their own plans and launched a desperate counterattack!