After Lü Bu was defeated by Cao Cao in Yanzhou and fled to Xuzhou, Zhang Miao, the prefect of Chenliu, fled with Lü Bu, while his younger brother Zhang Chao retreated to Yongqiu City with his family.
Zhang Miao had served as the prefect of Chenliu for many years and was quite prestigious. Zhang Chao had previously served as the prefect of Guangling. When the Kwantung Allied Army attacked Dong, Zhang Chao led troops from Guangling, which was considered the farthest force to attack Dong.
The Zhang brothers were natives of Dongping, Yanzhou. The two brothers were appointed governors of Erqianshi County at the same time, which shows that their family backgrounds are extraordinary.
For this reason, when they rebelled against Cao Cao, all the cities in Yanzhou rebelled, and only three cities remained.
But the Zhang brothers obviously underestimated Cao Cao and overestimated themselves.
When Yuan Shu led his troops to Chenliu, he was chased by Cao Cao. They ran all the way, always abandoning the city and escaping before Cao Cao's troops could form an encirclement. Finally, they fled Chenliu and ran to Huainan.
Zhang Chao thought he could defend the city and wait for reinforcements. As a result, Zhang Miao was killed by rebels on the way, and reinforcements did not arrive.
If Zhang Chao had abandoned the city and fled earlier, the three tribes might not have been destroyed.
But everything was too late. Now Cao Cao had surrounded Yongqiu on all sides, and it was impossible to escape.
However, Cao Cao besieged rather than attacked, because he lost too many troops and horses by attacking the city. For an isolated and helpless city like Yongqiu with little food, it would be self-defeating if it besieged.
"What a pity that Xuzhou fell into the hands of Liu Xuande! Now that Liu Xuande has repelled Yuan Jiujiu and destroyed Lu Bu, his power is very strong!"
In the big tent, Cao Cao was sitting with other generals. After hearing that Liu Bei defeated Yuan Shu and defeated Lu Bu, he felt worried.
"Yeah, no one expected that Tao Gongzu would die of illness so quickly and let Liu Xuande take over Xuzhou. They also didn't expect that Liu Xuande arrived in Xuzhou and in less than a year, he had consolidated and conquered the internal forces in Xuzhou and defeated Yuan Yuan.
Highway, Lu Bu was killed, I was unexpected!"
Cao Cao's counselor Xi Zhicai said immediately.
"Haha, sir, what do you think of the incident in Xuzhou? Is Liu Xuande really so capable?" Cao Cao narrowed his eyes slightly and asked with a smile.
"Ahem," Xi Zhicai covered his mouth and coughed twice, his face looked slightly pale, and he shook his head slightly and said, "Liu Xuande abandoned Yuzhou and took over Xuzhou. This shows that this man has great ambitions. However, Xuzhou's power is complicated, and Yuan Qiu is in Huainan."
The tiger is watching with eager eyes, and with his ability, he is afraid that he will not be able to defend Xuzhou."
"It is said that the reason why Yuan Jiujiu sent troops to fight for Xuzhou was because Guan Yu stationed troops in Xuyi and deliberately sent scouts in the direction of Shouchun to lure Yuan Jiujiu to send troops. And Liu Xuande had already sent troops to hide in Hushan in advance for this purpose.
The food route of Yuan Highway was cut off, and Yuan Highway was ultimately defeated as a result." Xi Zhicai continued.
"Even in Xiapi, I heard that Lu Bu's troops had not arrived yet, but Liu Xuande had already set up an ambush. This shows that he had already expected that Lu Bu would attack Xiapi, and Lu Bu was ultimately defeated and died. General, in my opinion
, all this is Zhou Wen'an's plan, only this person can predict things so accurately, and only this person can help Liu Xuande stabilize Xuzhou, and make it as strong as it is now!"
Cao Cao nodded frequently after hearing this. Cao Hong next to him said regretfully: "If I had known that Zhou Wen'an was so powerful, I should have found him and brought him back that day."
Xi Zhicai shook his head again: "At the beginning, since Zhou Wen'an could have expected that the general was going to kill the rebellious people of Xuzhou, he must have also expected that the general would send people to find him, so he deliberately evaded it. Since it was a deliberate evasion, Zi Lian, how could you do it?
Can you find it?"
"Haha, first we used scouts to investigate in Xuyi, lured the highway to attack, and then used ambushes to cut off the food roads. In Xiapi, we used civilians to pretend to be soldiers and left the city to lure Lu Bu to seize it, and set up an ambush on three sides. I also planned such a strange plan.
But that's it! Now that Liu Xuande is stable in Xuzhou and his power is strong, sir, do you think he will send troops to seize Yanzhou?"
Cao Cao is now worried that Liu Bei will come to compete with him for Yanzhou.
In the past, hundreds of cities in Yanzhou rebelled. Although they have basically been pacified now, these people in Yanzhou rebelled once. If a strong enemy comes to capture it again, it is inevitable that they will rebel again.
Xi Zhicai smiled and said: "General, don't worry, Liu Xuande will definitely not come to fight for Yanzhou, at least not yet."
"Oh, sir, why are you so sure? I heard that Liu Xuande attaches great importance to Chen Gongtai. I am afraid that Chen Gongtai will persuade him to attack me."
Cao Cao originally thought that Liu Bei would not come to compete for Yanzhou now, but he heard that Liu Bei paid more attention to Chen Gong, so there was no guarantee that he would raise his troops under Chen Gong's persuasion.
"General, who do you think Liu Xuande values more, Zhou Wen'an or Chen Gongtai?" Xi Zhicai asked with a smile.
"Of course Zhou Wen'an is more valued by Liu Xuande." Cao Cao replied.
Xi Zhicai covered his mouth and coughed twice again: "Ahem, with Zhou Wen'an's wisdom, he must know that if he raises his troops to fight for Yanzhou at this time, it will be a move that will harm everyone. Our military strength is still strong, and we have Yuan Jizhou to help us.
, he can't take Yanzhou, and it will be useless except for the loss of troops and horses on both sides. Even if Chen Gongtai persuades Liu Xuande to attack, Zhou Wen'an will definitely dissuade him."
Cao Cao nodded and said: "Sir, what you said makes sense. Liu Xuande is very powerful now. If he doesn't come to fight for Yanzhou, he will definitely go south to fight for Yangzhou. If my prediction is correct, Liu Xuande will lead his troops in the name of aiding Liu Zhengli."
Compete with Sun Bofu for the land east of Yangzhou."
"Yes, if Liu Xuande gets the land east of the Yangtze River, Yuan Jiujiang will not be able to defend Jiujiang for a long time. If Yangzhou falls into Liu Xuande's hands, then he will definitely raise his troops to fight for Yanzhou."
"Hey, I'm not afraid in the future, but now Yanzhou is not stable, I'm afraid he will send troops to fight at this time. I heard that Sun Bofu is very brave, Liu Zhengli has abandoned Qu'a and left, if Liu Xuande can be allowed to go south to fight with Sun Bofu
, and after I completely stabilize Yanzhou, I won’t be afraid of him anymore.”
Cao Cao now just wants to stabilize Liu Bei and prevent him from competing for Yanzhou.
After all, if Liu Bei raises his troops to attack, Cao Cao will only be able to defend Yanzhou if he wins, but if he loses, he may lose Yanzhou. This is not beneficial at all, and he does not want to see this happen.
Like Liu Bei, he now needs time to stabilize and develop.
"Liu Xuande is only serving as General Andong now, and has no actual duties as a general. It is better for the general to declare to the court that he is the general of Zhendong and show his goodwill to him. This will surely dissuade him from competing for Yanzhou." Xi Zhicai offered advice.
.
Cao Cao laughed when he heard this: "Hahaha, that's what I meant. Liu Xuande has always been benevolent and righteous. If I declare him as the general of Zhendong, I think he will not be my enemy at this time."
Cao Ren interjected: "If we want to stabilize Yanzhou, Yongqiu must be captured as soon as possible. Why don't you let me lead the troops to attack the city?"
Cao Cao waved his hand and said: "No, Yongqiu is an isolated city. It can be surrounded and broken. There is no need to attack the city."
At this time, a soldier came into the tent and reported: "General, there is a man outside the camp wearing armor and holding a sword. He claims to be Lu Bu's old general Zhang Liao. He broke out from Lucheng in Xuzhou and wants to surrender to the general."
Cao Cao was overjoyed when he heard the news: "Is Zhang Wenyuan here? Hahaha, ever since I learned that he broke out and escaped, I have been waiting for him day and night, and today I finally waited for him."
After saying that, he immediately got up and left the tent, without even having time to put on his shoes.
Xi Zhicai, Cao Ren and others followed closely behind.
Cao Cao hurried out of the camp and saw a man riding a horse with a sword in his hand, showing his majesty.
Zhang Liao saw Cao Cao coming out of the camp in person to greet him without wearing shoes, which showed his eagerness. He couldn't help but be deeply moved. He immediately dismounted, put his sword on the ground, stepped forward to greet him and said, "Zhang Liao pays homage to General Cao!"
Cao Cao quickly stepped forward to help him up: "Wen Yuan, get up quickly. I heard that you broke out in Lucheng and sent people to look for you, but they couldn't find you. Where have you been these days?"
Zhang Liao replied: "After I broke out of the encirclement that day, I was wounded. I ran to Xue County, Lu State, and found a farmer's house to stay temporarily to recuperate. Now that my injury has healed, I came to join the general."
"Hahaha, Wen Yuan broke through the encirclement alone, he is very brave! Come on, follow me into the camp."
Zhang Liao first followed Ding Yuan in Bingzhou and was later sent to Luoyang. He belonged to the general He Jin. After He Jin's death, he belonged to Dong Zhuo. After Dong Zhuo's death, he belonged to Lu Bu. Now that Lu Bu died again, he became a man without a master.
He broke through the siege on his own in Lucheng and became famous for his bravery and was admired by Cao Cao.
Cao Cao once sent people to search for him in the Pengcheng area of Xuzhou, but he was never found. It turned out that he had gone to the Lu State of Yuzhou to recover from his injuries.
Zhang Liao is now like a wild general and so brave. How could he let a man like Cao Cao, who cherishes his talents, let go.
After accepting Zhang Liao, Cao Cao followed the advice of Xi Zhicai and presented Liu Bei to the court as General Zhendong.
