Zhang Xiu was startled for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Mr. Wenhe and I haven't seen each other for a year. Why did the Lord ask about him?" (Note)
Bai Xiaowen said: "I heard that Jia Xu was very resourceful. After annihilating Cao Cao, he originally wanted to be a military advisor and accompany the army as counselor of military aircraft, but he was lost in the chaos."
Zhang Xiu said: "Mr. Wen He is indeed the best counselor in the world. He has endless strategies and meticulous thinking. Even Xiao He and Chen Ping are not as good as him."
Bai Xiaowen said: "I heard that Jia Xu has an old relationship with the general. If you get any news about him, please express my thirst for talents."
Zhang Xiu quickly nodded in agreement.
Bai Xiaowen then informed Zhang Xiu of the time for the army to gather and asked him to make some preparations; Bai Xiaowen left General Yangwu's Mansion.
After Bai Xiaowen left, a middle-aged Confucian scholar came out from behind the screen, with slender eyebrows and three long beards on his chin.
Zhang Xiu stood up and said: "As expected, sir, Yuan Xi will definitely use me if there is a war. Did you hear the conversation just now? Yuan Xi has no intention of harming you, and he values your talent and learning."
That middle-aged Confucian scholar was none other than Jia Xu.
Jia Xu sighed: "I followed Li Jue and offended the world, so I had to be careful whenever there was a new master. At first, I saw Cao Mengde as a wise master, so I persuaded the general to follow him. Who would have thought that Cao Cao would become a master so quickly?
Lost."
Zhang Xiu said: "In my opinion, Yuan Xi is also a lord who is not inferior to Cao Cao. His words and deeds are quite the style of a wise lord, which makes people fascinated."
Jia Xu said: "This is what puzzles me."
Zhang Xiu: "Why are you confused?"
Jia Xu said: "In this life, when you are young, you are full of energy, and when you succeed, you will inevitably forget your form. Yuan Xi has already dominated the world when he was only twenty years old. It can be said that he has achieved his ambition at a young age, and he has everything. But look at him, there is nothing wrong with him.
Is your arrogance exposed? He is still a courteous and virtuous corporal who is eager for talents. Such a lord is really hard for people to understand and he dare not follow him easily."
Zhang Xiu said: "Is there really someone who knows this from birth?"
Jia Xu was silent.
Zhang Xiu advised: "If you are not such a person, how can you defeat Cao Cao? Since Yuan Xi admires your talent, why do you need to hide?"
Jia Xu said: "Actually, Yuan Xi should already know that I am hiding with you."
Zhang Xiu's face changed slightly.
Jia Xu smiled and said: "General, don't panic. If Yuan Xi doesn't even have this kind of courage, how can he conquer so many generals from the Cao clan? I won't go out now, just because Yuan Xi has been sailing smoothly and has not encountered any setbacks.
It’s not beyond my ability. I have to wait until he is in trouble before I come forward to offer suggestions and advice in order to gain his attention.”
Zhang Xiu nodded in admiration, thinking that educated people have many minds.
…
Tongguan.
The Xiliang army attacked repeatedly and demolished countless battlements of the pass, but they were still unable to break through the pass.
On the one hand, Tongguan is a unique and dangerous place in the world. It is the east gate of Guanzhong area, with Qinling Mountains in the south and Juegu Valley in the southeast. In this era, it has the reputation of "the first pass in the world".
On the other hand, Cao Ren himself has special skills for defending the city. During the battle to defend the city, not only his own strength has been improved, but the morale of his soldiers can also be maintained, which is very important.
The Xiliang army was unable to capture Tongguan, so Ma Chao came up with a plan and asked his soldiers to take off their armor, sit on the ground, look lazy and curse.
All the generals who were locked up were filled with anger.
Niu Jin said: "The Xiliang army underestimated us so much! I will see that they are unprepared, so why not go down and charge for a while?"
Cao Ren waved his hand and said: "This is the arrogant strategy of the Xiliang rebel army. The ambush will definitely be ambushed on both sides. If our army makes a slight move, it will be ambushed, and then Tongguan will be in danger."
Seeing that this plan failed and he couldn't think of any other good strategies, Ma Chao asked his sergeants to increase their intensity and expand the scope of his scolding from Cao Ren's relatives to include Cao Cao.
"Cao Ren! You are a general of Cao Cao's clan. Your lord was killed by Yuan Xi. Instead of taking revenge, you surrendered. You are truly an unfilial and unjust person!"
"I thought Cao Cao was a hero, but I didn't expect that he was also a mediocre person. Once he died, all his relatives turned against him and surrendered, and everyone deserted them!"
After everyone closed the door, their faces changed color.
Qiao Rui glanced at Cao Ren secretly.
The face of this city guard general was as dark and rough as a stone statue, with no expression visible.
Qiao Rui advised: "The Xiliang thieves insulted the general like this, which shows that they are at the end of their rope. You can ask the sergeant to plug his ears with cotton gauze so that you don't have to listen to the other party's nonsense."
Cao Ren showed an ugly smile and said: "Their intention is just to provoke me to go down to the pass to fight. I am entrusted by the lord, how can I delay official business due to personal anger? As for cotton gauze plugging my ears, there is no need."
At this point, Cao Ren raised his voice and said to the other soldiers in the gate: "Now the Xiliang rebels are insulting us. The reason why we are patient for the time being is not because we are afraid of the Xiliang rebels, but because we cannot live up to our lord's trust; I know,
There are no cowards in our army. When the lord's reinforcements arrive, you will fight bravely to kill the enemy and avenge your previous shame!"
The spirit world rules prompt message came, Cao Ren used the skill "Fighting", the special skill "Defense" was triggered, and the morale of the soldiers increased.
Qiao Rui and Li Shuyi were relieved.
Two days later, Bai Xiaowen led 50,000 elite troops, falsely claiming to be 100,000, and came to Tongguan to provide support!
After arriving at Tongguan, Bai Xiaowen first reviewed the morale of the Tongguan defenders and found that the Tongguan defenders still had high morale after holding on for several days without fighting; and under Cao Ren's encouragement, they were quite willing to avenge their shame. Compared with the newly arrived reinforcements,
Morale is still higher!
He couldn't help but secretly marvel at how Cao Ren was really good at defending the city.
Even without the special skill of [City Defense], Cao Ren should be able to do well with his military knowledge and ability to mobilize his soldiers.
"Lord, the morale of the army is available, and the Xiliang army has lost its spirit, so it can fight." Cao Ren asked.
Bai Xiaowen nodded and said: "Our army has recently arrived and its morale is at a high level. We just want to take this opportunity to fight and weigh the strength of the Xiliang rebel army."
He gave an order to open the door and the army marched out in formation.
When Ma Chao heard the report, he rode straight out, pointed his gun at Yuan Xi, and shouted curses.
Bai Xiaowen shook his head and said: "Ma Chao, you didn't know what was going on, and you were being taken advantage of without knowing it. I have a clear conscience towards General Ma Teng. You didn't track down the real murderer, but you took the opportunity to cause chaos and attack Tongguan, trying to get involved in the Central Plains.
It's just for selfish reasons. If General Ma's soul in heaven finds out, what will he think of you?"
Ma Chao cursed angrily: "Evil thief! You still have the nerve to mention my father!" He rode his horse and charged towards him with a gun.
Zhang Liao came to greet him, clapped his horse and danced his sword. The two generals fought for twenty rounds, but Zhang Liao was defeated and retreated.
Over there, Xu Huang swung his big ax to grab it, joined Zhang Liao, and fought with Ma Chao. After more than ten rounds, he gradually showed his defeat.
Bai Xiaowen said: "Ma Chao's bravery cannot be defeated by one person."
Before he finished speaking, Zhang Xiu made a diagonal stab and attacked Ma Chao from the flank.