After capturing Fenggao, Cao Cao did not enter the city, but stayed outside the city for three days. During these three days, he read poems, practiced writing, tasted wine and danced swords, as if living in seclusion in the mountains, completely ignoring worldly affairs and doing whatever he wanted outside the camp. How much hustle and bustle there was had nothing to do with him. He just waited for the sun to rise and set, and the lights to go out. On the night of the third day, there was silence outside the camp. Apart from the cry of the owl, nothing could be heard. .
In the early morning of the fourth day, all the troops of Cao's army returned home. However, the difference from when they left was that the officers had many more gold and silver ornaments on their bodies, while the soldiers had some brocade and preserved meat hanging on their bodies, and even worse. , and several white skulls were thrown together and worn around the neck as a necklace. Although the scene was strange, the murderous intention of Sergeant Cao's soldiers was eliminated a lot.
When there was almost half a day before the new military meeting, the officers consciously gathered in front of the camp gate and prepared a dozen boxes. Everyone threw some of their belongings into the boxes. Soon, the boxes were filled to the brim.< /p>
Dian Wei came over at this time and saw that there were more than ten boxes. He couldn't help but wonder: "Feng Gao has been fighting for three years. How can there be so much property in the city?" Someone smiled and replied: "Those are hidden in the Yamen. It’s not easy to find out the treasure after I killed three people!” Dian Wei also laughed when he heard this, nodded and said, “It’s a good thing you didn’t keep it for yourself, Cao Shijun will remember your love!”
"How dare you, how dare you", amidst a bunch of polite voices, Dian Wei collected all the boxes and dragged them to a special tent. Then he came back and said to them: "Don't relax, you guys, there is still a battle to be fought. The general's envoy has already arrived He came and said he wanted to accompany our army." Everyone was stunned. Someone asked: "The general has never sent a supervisory army before, why did he send someone here this time?"
Liu Bei did not want to send anyone to supervise the army. After receiving the good news from Cao Cao, he read the end of the letter and saw that Cao Cao wrote grandly: "You little thief, you are determined to die. You rebelled throughout the city and refused to surrender despite repeated persuasion. In order to demonstrate the virtue of our ancestors and punish him for his treason in order to respect the whole world, I had no choice but to behead him as a cloth and kill his corpse as a memorial..." I couldn't help but turn pale with fright, stopped everything else, and summoned my colleagues. Discuss this matter.
Everyone thought that it was true that the people of Fenggao City were fighting tenaciously, but the massacre of the city by Cao Cao's army was even more horrifying. If Cao Cao was allowed to continue his actions and the news spread to Linzi, the already hostile people of Qi would be even more united, and the city would naturally become more and more united. It is difficult to attack, and it will be even more difficult to maintain long-term peace and stability in the future. As a last resort, Liu Bei decided to send Zhu Hao to Cao Ying, hoping that he could accompany the army to stop it.
Zhu Hao set off immediately after receiving the order. Under the guidance of three Taishan thieves, he crossed Mount Tai from Laiwu and reached Cao Jun's camp in two days. Along the way, he could see deserted villages and crumbling walls everywhere. It looked like it had been there for a long time, and the walls were covered with green vines, which made Zhu Hao feel very sad. When he got closer to Fenggao, he saw headless corpses everywhere along the path, exuding a disgusting smell, which made Zhu Hao very sad. Hao felt a little annoyed again.
Therefore, in the early morning of the second day of May, Zhu Hao rushed to the Chinese army camp in the south of Fenggao City without rest. He immediately asked to see Cao Cao, the shepherd of Yanzhou and the former general. Cao Cao heard that Zhu Hao was coming and hurriedly came out of his tent to greet him. At that time, Cao Cao was forty-three years old, and his cheeks and beard were already white. However, he was full of energy, and his eyes were as agile as a dragon. He was full of wisdom and gave people a sense of awe and inviolability. He wore He wears a robe with a square collar and wide sleeves, but wears a leather armor underneath. There is a long sword on the left and right sides of the waist. He wears a pair of deerskin boots on his feet. He steps steadily on the wet mud. Although his appearance is not outstanding, his words and deeds are heroic. Nan Yun, his style is truly outstanding.
The two sat down and talked. Zhu Hao was originally the second son of General Zhu Jun, who was willing to ride on the right side of the army. During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Zhu Jun had been Cao Cao's superior and had a lot of support in the war. After Zhu Jun returned to the capital in filial piety, he became famous for a while. Luo Jin, Cao Cao was also one of the few old relatives who often visited Zhu Jun's house, so the two were old acquaintances and had a close friendship. Therefore, Cao Cao called this new member of Jinyang Ba's house who had lost his father a rider, " There is no need to be polite and unfamiliar with "Zhu Jun", just use his character "Zhong Ming" to commemorate him, which reveals a bit of the kindness and expectations of the elders for the younger generations.
Zhu Hao knew that since the death of his father Zhu Jun, all the famous generals of the previous generation had withered away. Among the countless famous generals in the world now, Cao Cao is definitely among the best. In the court, the emperor originally relied on Mu Lu Bu of Liangzhou the most, but in recent years Over the years, Cao Cao regained Yanzhou on his own and won many battles between Qingxu and Qingxu. His reputation surpassed that of Lu Bu, so the emperor admired him even more.
It is rumored that there was such a question in the palace. The emperor asked Chen Chong, who among the famous generals in the world, excluding the master and the general, can be called the best? Chen Chong replied, "A ruler has its own strengths and weaknesses, and so do generals." In this way, Gongsun Zan is good at training troops but not good at strategy, Lu Bu is good at fighting bravely but not good at maneuvering, Yuan Shao is changeable but not good at resolute decisions, only Cao Cao is brave but has Taoism, and he is a rare genius in ancient and modern times. So when he met Cao Cao, Zhu Hao In fact, they were quite happy. The two started talking about old things in Luoyang, and they talked for more than an hour before they knew it.
Cao Cao asked about the situation of Bafu under Linzi City, and Zhu Hao told the truth. Bafu's progress under Linzi City was not going well. Jimo in the east repeatedly sent reinforcements to harass. Although Bafu defeated them one by one, they were only dispersed. However, the results obtained were not many, so Jimo was still able to make a comeback, which seriously affected the progress of Bafu's siege. So much so that after one month, Dongpingan City on the east bank of Zishui River had not yet been captured, let alone the city on the west bank. Linzi City.
Cao Cao heard something was wrong, and asked: "Be defeated without being defeated. This is something only an old soldier can do. But in the battle of Surabaya, the elite of the Qi people had been wiped out by the generals. How could the Qi people have such elites?" ?" Seeing Cao Cao hitting the nail on the head, Zhu Hao couldn't help being surprised. He felt a little more admiration in his heart. He nodded and said, "Mr. Cao is right. Our army was also puzzled by this a few days ago. Fortunately, we captured a few of them a few days ago. The prisoners, after being tortured, learned that reinforcements had been sent from the north and came by boat. There are now two thousand people, and in a few days, there will be another three thousand people."
Didn't Yuan Shao send troops directly? Cao Cao suddenly nodded. He thought that he really didn't dare to openly break with the imperial court, so he used this method to delay time. He was silent for a while, and then said: "Then Zhongming is here, I'm afraid it's You want me to attack Licheng."
Licheng (today's Jinan) is the northern gate of Linzi, bordering Jishui to the north and Taishan Mountains to the south. The terrain is similar to Fenggao. However, the difference from Fenggao is that compared with Jishui, which is 200 feet wide in the north of Licheng, The Wenshui River is no more than a small river, and the mountains that Licheng relies on are not just remnant veins, but a main vein that is more than ten times more majestic.
"Yes!" Zhu Hao sighed: "As long as Cao Gong can conquer Licheng, Yanzhou and Qingzhou will be flat, and there will be no obstacles. At that time, Cao Gong can directly drive Shishui and attack Linzi from the north and south with Bafu. Linzi will not be difficult
Come on! Even if Yuan’s army is in the north, do they still dare to bypass Duke Cao and travel between the lakes and the sea? The general said that as long as Duke Cao can conquer Licheng, they can be ranked first in merit this time!"
Cao Cao laughed when he heard this. He stroked his beard and said modestly: "We are all working under the general, so why do we care about the credit?"
Unexpectedly, before Zhu Hao finished speaking, he interrupted Cao Cao and said: "It's just that when the general sent me here, he asked me to warn Duke Cao."
"What's the matter?"
"The general said that since the resurgence of Emperor Shizu, the imperial court has often killed too much without accumulating evil virtues, which has led to dissatisfaction among the people and repeated rebellions. Now that the chaos is in chaos, it is time to bring order to the chaos, so I hope that Duke Cao can follow Xiao He's example
, Cao Shen and other wise ministers of this dynasty should put the people first, put morality first, and do not want to massacre the city again. The general sent me here to supervise me along with him in the army."
Cao Cao glanced at Zhu Hao, his expression did not change, he just smiled lightly and said: "I don't want to cause more trouble. This time the city is being washed, it is really because the enemies are stubborn and refuse to surrender. If the city can be easily captured, who would?
What about ordering the soldiers to fight to the death? No problem, Zhongming is coming soon, so you might as well just follow me. After lunch, I will hold a military meeting, so I can tell the generals about this."
Seeing that Cao Cao had no objection, Zhu Hao breathed a sigh of relief and joked to Cao Cao: "Being able to see the former general's military discussion is something that many military men in the world can only dream of. I can say that I am extremely honored!"
In the afternoon, the generals of Cao's army gathered together. After Cao Cao introduced Zhu Hao to the generals, he immediately began to make arrangements for the siege of Licheng. After two hours of deliberation, he broke camp and set out early the next morning. Zhu Hao was shocked by his speed. It is now May, and it is raining heavily in both Yanzhou and Henan provinces, and the water in Jishui has also risen accordingly. Cao Cao ordered Chen Gong to transfer some ships from Juye, and he led the army north to Jibei. On the eighth day of May, Cao Cao's army arrived in Lu County
, to meet up with the ships transferred by Chen Gong, he took Cao Ren as the vanguard, divided his 3,000 men to board the ship, and headed eastward, while he led the army behind and slowly moved behind.
The Xia Current was rapid, and Cao Ren followed it down, crossing a hundred miles in one day to reach the north of Licheng City, which attracted the Qi people from Licheng to come out to attack. However, the soldiers led by Cao Ren mostly wore leather armor, and the Qi people were in a hurry and could not defeat them, so they had to retreat back to the city.
, always paying attention to the movements of Cao's army outside the city. By this time, one day and night had passed, and when Cao Ren saw the Qi people retreating to the city, he suddenly left the ship with great fanfare and marched to the west. The Qi people thought it was a trick and did not dare to act rashly.
As a result, Cao Cao led the main force to Zhu'a, west of Licheng. The defenders of Zhu'a originally planned to resist, but when they saw an enemy army coming from the east beating drums, they were panicked and at a loss. At this time, Cao Ren wrote on white silk to persuade him to surrender.
He asked people to copy several copies of the book, tie them to arrow shafts, and order trusted knights to shoot into the city. He claimed that Licheng had fallen and asked them to open the city and surrender, otherwise the whole city would be massacred.
Wandering with no way out, the leader of General Zhu Ashou committed suicide and died. Then his men opened the door and dedicated the city, and gave his head to Cao Cao, hoping to save the life of the city.
Cao Cao promised, and then left the money and grain in the city, expelled all the people from the city, leaving only a thousand people to guard the city, while he continued eastward, and arrived at the foot of Licheng on May 11th.
The defenders of Licheng were not expecting it to arrive so quickly, and before they had time to make relevant arrangements, Cao Cao completed the siege of Licheng.