As Cao Cao entered Xiangyang, Cao Cao's army of 200,000 men marched into Jingzhou.
Cao Cao immediately ordered Zhao Yan to serve as the commander-in-chief's escort, and Cao Chun, Le Jin, Zhang He, Zhu Ling, Li Dian, Feng Kai and Lu to recruit seven groups of troops to sweep away the remaining resistance forces in Jingchu. Xu Huang was the
General Fenwei, stationed in Zhonglu, was responsible for clearing out the bandits near Xiangyang and ensuring the security and stability of the Xiangyang area.
Cao Peng readily accepted this order.
He had made many meritorious deeds before, but Cao Cao did not give him any rewards. Perhaps in the eyes of others, Cao Cao was a bit neglectful of Cao Peng by doing this. But in Cao Peng's view, Cao Cao's arrangement was the greatest protection for him. This shows that,
The matter of Cao Peng's personal manipulation of Liu Bei's family will just go away. If someone mentions it in the future, Cao Cao can explain it with the words "the merits and demerits balance". Moreover, Cao Cao was promoted to the Governor of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.
Cao Peng's greatest reward. Not just anyone can hold this position.
Even though he was as close as Cao Zhen, he only held the position of deputy governor back then.
Cao Chun, who had previously served as the governor, is now Cao Cao's confidant. In other words, from this moment on, Cao Peng has been completely integrated into the core position of the Prime Minister's Mansion.
"You mean, Mrs. Gan and Mrs. Mi have not gone back?"
As soon as he settled down, Zhao Yun came to report.
After a brutal fight in Changbanpo, Zhao Yun had no choice but to surrender to Cao Peng. He also experienced a period of fluctuations in his heart. In the first few days, he even did not think about food or food. However, as time went by, Zhao Yun gradually
He calmed down. Cao Peng did not give him any arrangements. He just asked him to command the White Camel Soldiers and be responsible for the drills of the White Camel Soldiers. Originally, this was the responsibility of Huang Zhong and Pound, but after a test in Nanyang, Pound
It is impossible to stay with Cao Peng. Sooner or later, Cao Cao will give him a heavy responsibility.
Cao Peng had already discussed this with Pound.
In his heart, Pound was not very willing to leave Cao Peng, but Cao Peng persuaded Pound with reason and emotion.
After Pang De left, only Huang Zhong was left with Cao Peng. According to Cao Peng's wishes, he hoped to recommend Huang Zhong to Cao Cao, but Huang Zhong was reluctant. After Jingzhou surrendered, Huang Zhong seemed to become cheerful.
Many. Now, his biggest wish is to accompany Cao Peng to Liangzhou and make achievements in foreign lands. Therefore, Cao Peng obeyed Huang Zhong's wishes and kept him by his side...
Wang Shuang led his troops to Xiangyang and became Cao Peng's personal general.
But Huang Zhong was a little uneasy, thinking that although Wang Shuang was brave, he was not enough to command the White Tuo.
Now Cao Peng can form a pro-army of a thousand people with a salary of two thousand dan. This pro-army is called the White Camel. The number of flying camel soldiers has not increased, but it will be adjusted and the number will be increased to five hundred.
In other words, Cao Peng had 1,500 personal troops in his hands, plus 8,000 tiger and leopard cavalry, nearly 10,000 troops. Zhao Yun temporarily commanded the white camel soldiers, but Huang Zhong didn't have any objections.
After all, Zhao Yun's martial arts skills have been recognized by him.
When Zhao Yun came to see Cao Peng, he also considered it over and over again.
Zhao Yun was really shocked when Mi Zhu, Mrs. Mi, Mrs. Gan and her son suddenly came to him. He took the four of Mi Zhu in, but he was always a little uneasy in his heart. After all, he had surrendered.
It seemed inappropriate for Cao Peng to take in the old master's family again. However, Zhao Yun couldn't refuse because of his past friendship. The reasons given by Mi Zhu made it even harder for him to refuse.
"If I return to Jiangxia, the emperor's uncle will be defeated."
With a bitter smile on his face, Mi Zhu explained to Zhao Yun: "The two ladies thought about it for a long time before making such a decision. First, if they don't go back, there will be no more conflicts in the emperor's tent and they can fight with all their strength; second, they will not go back.
Come, if the emperor's uncle is defeated, I can still leave a bloodline for the emperor's uncle."
Zhao Yun is really in trouble!
After thinking about it for a long time, he finally made up his mind and asked Cao Peng to explain the situation.
If Cao Peng could accept it, he would work wholeheartedly for Cao Peng; if Cao Peng... he would take Mrs. Mi, Mrs. Gan, to the Western Regions and never return to the Central Plains.
After listening to Zhao Yun's explanation, Cao Peng shook his head helplessly.
"Zilong, you are making things difficult for me... When I let the ladies go, it was already a serious crime of beheading. Now, if I take in the two ladies and that Mr. Adou... it's okay to send them to the Buddha.
I have no idea about the matter of sending them to the west. The two ladies and Mr. Mi Zizhong have died in the rebel army. You can take them to Liangzhou in a few days, then go to Wuwei County and join Mi Fang.
That guy is doing quite well in Wuwei.
But if you have any objections, don't blame me for being cruel.
There are all capable people in Liangzhou. I'm going to tell you the truth first. Once I find out that they have done anything inappropriate, I will take the lives of his family."
Zhao Yun quickly knelt down on the ground, "Young master, how dare you repay your kindness without being so heartless?
Please rest assured, Sir, the ladies are already disheartened, and Mr. Zhong Mi, Mr. Mizi, is a gentleman, and is by no means the kind of person who is good at conspiracy..."
When Cao Peng heard this, he laughed.
"But I don't know how Liu Bei got Xiapi when he was in Xuzhou?"
This is a past event.
When Lu Bu was in trouble, Liu Bei took him in.
Later, Lu Bu captured Xiapi and drove Liu Bei away, and endless battles began. Once, Lu Bu defeated Liu Bei and captured Mi Zhu and others. However, Lu Bu did not kill Mi Zhu, but instead entrusted him with important tasks.
Unexpectedly, when Liu Bei recaptured Xia Pi, Lu Bu went to battle, and Mi Zhu suddenly rebelled and closed the city gates. Lu Bu was defeated and almost died. That battle has long become a thing of the past. Cao Peng suddenly mentioned it to tell Zhao Yun that Mi Zhu
This person is not as gentle and gentle as he seems, but also has a deep mind.
After Zhao Yun heard this, he gritted his teeth and pulled out the Jinghong Sword.
He cut off a strand of hair and said solemnly: "Yun will cut off my oath today. If Mi Zhu dares to play tricks, I will kill him even if he is thousands of miles away."
Cao Peng nodded, "As long as Zilong knows clearly."
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In this way, a few days later, Zhao Yun led his white camel soldiers to Liangzhou to obey Cao Ji's appointment.
As soon as the white camel soldiers left, Cao Peng didn't think anything of it. He ordered Wang Shuang to recruit 500 soldiers and combine them with the flying camel soldiers. Huang Zhong was the guard general and commanded the flying camel soldiers, while Wang Shuang
As deputy general, he assisted Huang Zhong. Three days later, Cao Cao ordered Pang De to be appointed as the commander of the gangsters. He led an army alone and joined forces with Le Jin to attack Wulin. Although Pang De was reluctant to give up, he also knew that Cao Cao
Peng is thinking about his future.
In the past, Gan Ning followed Cao Peng for three years, and now he is the governor of Huainan County.
Today, Pang De has become an official again and leads his troops to attack...
They all have deep marks of Cao Peng. He led the troops to attack this time not only to seek a future for himself, but also to represent Cao Peng's face. Just like Gan Ning did, Gan Ning gave Cao Peng
His face grew brighter, and now it was Pound's turn to serve.
After Pang De left, Cao Peng immediately asked Cao Cao to appoint Huang Zhong as the deputy commander of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.
He will command 3,000 tiger knights, and the remaining 5,000 leopard knights will be under the command of Cao Peng. After stationed in Xiangyang for a few days, Cao Peng received Cao Cao's order to move to Fancheng to assist Xu Huang and clear up the enemy.
Xiangyang is surrounded by bandits and maintains the stability and prosperity of Xiangyang.
In mid-December of the twelfth year of Jian'an, Liu Bei and Sun Wu joined forces to attack Wuling.
Lejin Pangde immediately attacked and fought fiercely with Liu Bei in Xiling County...
"Brother Gongming, are you saying that Liu Zhang has sent an envoy?"
After arriving in Fancheng, Xu Huang came to visit.
In terms of official position, Cao Peng should be the one to meet Xu Huang. However, Cao Peng's current reputation and qualifications are not inferior to Xu Huang's, and in terms of closeness and distance, Xu Huang is far less valued by Cao Cao than Cao Peng.
Now Xu Huang also has outstanding achievements and an extraordinary status.
After the Battle of Youzhou, Cao Cao rewarded and awarded five good generals, and Xu Huang was among them.
These five good generals are Zhang Liao, Xu Huang, Gan Ning, Le Jin and Yu Jin. Compared with the five good generals in history, the only deviation is that Zhang He was not selected. It is no wonder that Zhang He at this time is not yet the best general in history.
That Zhang Junyi was extremely feared by Zhuge Liang. And Gan Ning's reputation for merit, including qualifications, was far beyond Zhang He's. Especially after stationed in Hefei, Gan Ning and Jiangdong fought, large and small, for nearly a hundred battles. He won more than he lost, but he still lost.
The land of Huainan was peaceful, so Sun Quan did not dare to peek at Hefei, and his reputation was resounding.
And since he was recommended by Cao Peng, he was naturally trusted by Cao Cao.
In addition, behind Gan Ning, there was an emerging Yingchuan celebrity like Huang Chengyan speaking for him. In comparison, Zhang He was obviously lacking.
Xu Huang came to visit Cao Peng, firstly to close the relationship, and secondly, in the hope that future cooperation would be more tacit.
The two sat together and unknowingly talked about the envoy from Yizhou.
Cao Cao had told Cao Peng before that he would be responsible for receiving the envoys from Yizhou. But in fact, Cao Peng was a little unsure about this matter.
Judging from Cao Cao's intentions, he seemed not to welcome the envoy from Yizhou.
But the question is, in history, the envoys from Yizhou seemed to come after Chibi, so why did they appear now?
Cao Peng didn't know that the history he knew was the history in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, not the real history of the Three Kingdoms.
Xu Huang nodded and said with a smile: "Before the Prime Minister returned to Xudu, Liu Zhang secretly sent an envoy to contact the Prime Minister. Later, the Prime Minister Youzhou won a great victory and took Yuan Xi's head. Liu Zhang sent another driver to work with Zhang Su, bringing some
The baggage came to visit... At that time, the prime minister had just returned to Xudu. He was very happy to see Zhang Su coming, so he made Liu Zhang the general of Zhenwei, made Zhang Su the prefect of Guanghan, and rewarded him with countless money and silk.
Unexpectedly, Liu Zhang turned out to be greedy and thought that the Prime Minister was afraid of him.
No, before the Prime Minister entered Xiangyang, he sent people to tell the Prime Minister that he sent Zhang Song, a member of another family, to come to congratulate the Prime Minister and bring some supplies at the same time.
Last time, he used 300 carts of junk to exchange for a General Zhenwei and a Guanghan Prefect.
At the same time, the prime minister rewarded him with something worth almost three thousand gold. But this guy was not satisfied and came to ask for favors from the prime minister."
"You mean...Zhang Song?"
Cao Peng's heart skipped a beat, and he raised his head and looked at Xu Huang.
"yes!"
Xu Huang nodded and said: "I asked around, and it seems that his name is Zhang Song, whose courtesy name is Yongnian, and he is a famous scholar in Yizhou.
By the way, Zhang Su, who came as an envoy earlier, is the guy who was granted the title of Grand Administrator of Guanghan, and he is the brother of Zhang Yongnian..."
Cao Peng took a deep breath in his heart.
Why did Zhang Song come to Jingzhou at this time?
Historically, Zhang Song should have been envoy to Xu Du after the Battle of Chibi.
His unruly behavior made Cao Cao extremely dissatisfied, so he took out the "New Book of Meng De" to show off. Unexpectedly, Zhang Song had a photographic memory, so he immediately wrote down the entire text of Meng De's New Book, and then recited it, saying that Cao Cao was plagiarizing others.
.provoked Cao Cao to destroy Meng De’s new book.
Of course, even if Cao Cao wanted to destroy it now, it would be impossible.
As early as the beginning of the 11th year of Jian'an, "Mengde's New Book" and "Thirty-Six Strategies" were printed by Cao Peng using movable type printing and distributed to the public. The first batch of 1,500 copies of "Mengde's New Book" and "Thirty-Six Strategies" were published by Cao Peng.
Hundreds of copies of "Thirty-Six Strategies" have already been circulated on the market, so there is no need to worry about Zhang Song's opportunism.
What Cao Peng was thinking about was the "Topographic Map of Xichuan" that Zhang Song had on him and his connections in Xichuan.
According to the information sent by Li Ru, the current economy of Yizhou is extremely chaotic. As a large amount of bad currency has been poured into Yizhou, and since Cao Cao began to rectify the currency in the 10th year of Jian'an, the market in Yizhou has been flooded with a large amount of bad currency.
As a result, prices have increased five times compared with five years ago. Moreover, this situation is getting worse. Although Liu Zhang is aware of it, he does not know how to start.
Similarly, the Hexi Chamber of Commerce has transferred a large amount of wealth from Yizhou to Liangzhou through continuous transactions over the past five years.
This wealth has played a vital role in Liangzhou. In the past few years, Cao Ji has spent a lot of money to promote mulberry-based fish ponds, fruit-based fish ponds, and silkworm textiles on a large scale.
.Although the assistance from the Zhongshi clan is said to be of little help to the vast Liangzhou. According to the account books Wang Shuang brought this time, Cao Ji has invested nearly 3.7 million yuan in Liangzhou in the past five years. His funds
The total amount was even more than the annual taxes of Xudu, and Liangzhou has undergone tremendous changes as a result.
The wealth and prosperity of Liangzhou accelerated the further development of Hexi trade routes.
This virtuous cycle gives Liangzhou unlimited potential...corresponding to this is the decline of Yizhou.
It is said that many people in Yizhou are dissatisfied with Liu Zhang. The old Yizhou scholars are relatively good, but the new generation of Yizhou scholars have developed feelings of resistance to Liu Zhang.
According to historical development, Zhang Song rebelled against Liu Zhang because of his incompetence.
So now that Yizhou is facing such a dilemma, will Zhang Song be dissatisfied with Liu Zhang?
Regarding this, Cao Peng was a little confused...
After sending Xu Huang away, Cao Peng took Wang Shuang to inspect the defense of Fancheng. The huge Fancheng became much deserted after Liu Bei fled and relocated the people. Although later, Wang Wei led his troops
Chasing Jiangxia Road, they recaptured many people, but compared to the earlier prosperity and liveliness, it was obviously not enough. Climbing up the city tower, Cao Peng had a bird's-eye view of the deserted Fancheng city.
He couldn't help but feel a little sigh in his heart, turned around and said to Wang Shuang: "If Liu Bei is not eliminated, he will be a great trouble to the country."
"Sir, now that the Prime Minister's army has arrived, why not take the opportunity to destroy Liu Bei?"
"Destroy Liu Bei?"
Cao Peng smiled bitterly: "But it's not easy!"
Before Liu Bei got Zhuge Liang, he dominated the world.
Now with Zhuge Liang, he is even more powerful... It is not an easy task to eliminate this person. It also depends on what Cao Cao will plan next... The battle of Chibi, the battle of Chibi! Cao Peng let out a sigh of relief, nothing can be done
Let the red cliff appear again.
But, how should I explain this matter to Cao Cao?
Cao Peng was still hesitant in his heart... He couldn't go over and tell Cao Cao: You can't fall into the trap, you'd better be careful about Zhou Gongjin.
After meeting Cao Cao several times, Cao Peng could feel that Cao Cao was now somewhat complacent.
Later generations had various explanations for Cao Cao's failure in the Battle of Chibi.
Some said that Cao Cao was too complacent, while others said that Cao Cao failed because of the epidemic... Cao Peng remembered that Cao Cao once attributed the failure to illness. He once wrote to Sun Quan: The Battle of Chibi was worth the illness.
, Gu Shaohuo retreated, causing Zhou Lang to gain this name in vain.
It means: The so-called burning of Red Cliff does not exist at all.
I was the one who lit the fire, but it ended up making Zhou Yu famous...
Is this true? Or is it Cao Cao's excuse?
Cao Peng wasn't sure either.
However, since he suddenly thought of this matter, Cao Peng did not dare to take it lightly.
"By the way, I will send someone to Xiangyang tomorrow to ask who Hua Tuo, Dong Xiao, and Zhang Zhongjing are coming with the army.
The climate in the south is changeable, and people from the north may not be able to get used to it. They need to be careful about epidemics... In addition, you immediately arrange for people to buy medicines to treat epidemics. The more the better, don't worry about money! Well, you can ask Cong to come forward at this time,
Join forces with Liu Cong to purchase items in various places."
"Here!"
Wang Shuang had followed Cao Peng for a long time, and he would never have a single question about Cao Peng's orders.
He is Cao Peng's retainer, but in terms of seniority, I am afraid that people like Xiahou Lan and Zhoucang are older than him. The rest are not as senior as Wang Shuang. He knows very well when he can ask questions.
When should you not ask questions? Although Cao Peng did not say it in a commanding tone, Wang Shuang knew that he only needed to carry out this matter and did not need to ask about the reasons.
After a round of inspection, Cao Peng was ready to return to his mansion.
When passing by the city gate, I suddenly heard a noise...
"I'm not a spy, I'm not a spy!"
"what happened?"
Cao Peng stopped and raised his eyes to look.
I saw bright lights at the city gate. A group of soldiers formed a circle, and I didn't know what was going on.
Wang Shuang immediately ran over to ask the reason. After a while, he saw Fu Huan escorting a man and hurriedly came to Cao Peng.
"Fu He, who is this?"
"Reporting to the Grand Governor, the general was patrolling at the gate of the city just now and found this man sneaking around.
When they came forward to cross-examine, they noticed that although this person's Guanzhong accent was mixed with Yizhou's accent. When questioning him, he refused to explain, saying that he wanted to meet the governor. The general was about to take him down.
Then I reported it to the Grand Governor... who didn't expect the Grand Governor to come."
Cao Peng was startled when he heard this and motioned to Fu Huan to let the man go.
In the firelight, I saw that this man was about eight feet tall and slightly slender.
He appears to be in his early thirties, with a dignified appearance and extraordinary appearance. He has a pair of red phoenix eyes, two thick eyebrows, a straight nose, a square mouth, and a black beard under his chin.
Wearing a set of rough clothes, he could not conceal his outstanding demeanor.
Cao Peng narrowed his eyes and asked, "Who are you and why do you want to see me?"
"and who are you?"
"Bold...this is in front of my chief governor.
Didn't you just say that you wanted to see the Grand Governor? How come you have met now but you don't pay your respects?"
"Are you Cao Peng?"
The man stared at Cao Peng and asked in a deep voice.
Observe his attitude, he is neither humble nor arrogant, and his demeanor is good.
Cao Peng waved his hand and signaled the soldiers to retreat. He took two steps forward and raised his hands towards the man: "This is Cao Peng. Didn't you ask me your name?"
