Chapter three hundred and seventy seventh righteous man
Yuan Shao led his troops back to Changyi City, and Chen Gong immediately asked to see him.
"Ming Gong," Chen Gong bowed his hands and asked, "What did Cao Mengde say?"
Yuan Shao said with a smile: "Cao A is not willing to give in, and he has to take the head of his subordinates."
"Ah?" Chen Gong was shocked, and then said miserably: "In that case, then use my head to calm his anger!"
"But I refused. Don't worry about it. Who am I, Yuan Shao? How could I do such a thing?"
Chen Gong burst into tears with gratitude, prostrated himself on the ground, and said, "I will leave my life to Duke Ming!"
Yuan Shao smiled and said: "Let's not talk about this. Now that Yanzhou has been decided, I sent Ju Yi to lead 60,000 troops to attack Liu Bei in Xuzhou, and sent Gao Gan to lead 30,000 troops to defeat Cheng Yu of Dongjun. But Cheng Yu's defense was strong.
, we cannot capture it in such a hurry. Gongtai is a hero from Yanzhou, but do you know how to persuade Cheng Yu to surrender?"
Chen Gong calmed down in shock, thought for a while, and said: "Cheng Yu has a tough temperament and has often disobeyed me in the past. I'm afraid it will be difficult to persuade him to surrender. In addition to a strong attack, the only way to defeat him is to use siege.
"
"So that's it," Yuan Shao's smile became a little stiff. He ordered someone to pour wine for Chen Gong and said, "Please have a few more drinks at the public table."
Chen Gong was in a state of confusion just now, and now he is only a little better. How can he be in the mood to eat and drink? Although it is good wine and food, it tastes like chewing gum in his mouth. Yuan Shao persuaded Chen Gong to drink a few more glasses.
As soon as Chen Gong finished drinking, a servant came to fill the wine glass.
Later, Chen Gong reached out to stop the servant and said with a bitter smile: "Ming Gong, I really can't drink!"
Yuan Shao then gave up. He waved his hand and asked the servant serving beside him to go down first. He then said to Chen Gong: "I still have some things to deal with. Please help yourself."
Chen Gong quickly stood up and wanted to send Yuan Shao out, but Yuan Shao stopped him. Seeing the other party's figure disappear under the eaves, Chen Gong couldn't help but sigh: "My true lord!"
As soon as he returned to the hall and sat down, he suddenly heard the sound of footsteps outside. Chen Gong thought it was Yuan Shao leaving and returning, and his heart became excited again. When he looked up, it was Guo Tu who appeared in the hall, followed by several soldiers.
. Chen Gong is the lord of a state. How could he ever take a villain like Guo Tu in his eyes in the past?
But today is different from the past. He is now a foreign minister attached to Yuan Shao, while Guo Tu is Yuan Benchu's confidant. He did not dare to be disrespectful, so he stood up and asked, "Gongze is here, but what's the matter?"
Guo Tu smiled and said: "It's nothing serious, I just want to borrow something from you."
Chen Gong's face was full of smiles, and he pretended to be open-minded and said: "Whatever you want, just ask!"
Guo Tu's smile became even brighter. He picked up the wine pot, drank a glass of wine for himself, and said, "Good wine. My lord is so kind to me."
"Yes, yes, I came to my aid out of justice. I am deeply grateful for my great kindness. I will surely repay you in the future!"
"Why wait until later?" Guo Tu said with a smile: "Cao Mengde said that he is willing to trade thirty miles of land for his head. For the sake of my lord's great cause, I came here to borrow your head for use."
"Ah!" Chen Gong took two steps back, pointed at Guo Tu, and said in shock: "What did you say?"
The smile on Guo Tu's face turned cold, "Isn't it clear what I said? I want to take your head and go to Cao Cao in exchange for thirty miles of land!"
Chen Gong looked at the soldier behind Guo Tu, and the drunkenness on his body suddenly turned into cold sweat. He had many thoughts in his mind, but in the end he could only smile bitterly and said, "Yuan Benchu asked you to come, right?"
Guo Tu shook his head repeatedly and said: "My lord has a broad mind and great courage, how can he do such a thing? All of this is just a matter between me and your Excellency."
Chen Gong said sadly: "When you do big things, you cherish your life, when you see small gains, you forget your life. Do the words of the general come true here?"
Guo Tu suddenly changed his color and shouted: "How brave! How dare you criticize my lord! Come on, kill him quickly!"
The two soldiers came forward and wanted to take action, but Chen Gong did not resist and said with a sad smile: "Although the general has intentions, he does not dare to do such a thing. Aren't Yuan Benchu's actions afraid of incurring the ridicule of the heroes of the world?"
Guo Tu smiled and said, "Don't worry about it now!"
The sword flashed and the head fell on the wooden board. Blood spurted out from the neck, dyeing the pillars opposite bright red. Yuan Shao was discussing with the generals when he saw Guo Tu suddenly barging in. He was a little agitated.
He said displeasedly: "Why is Gongze so worried?"
Guo Tu sighed and said, "Chen Gongtai came to find me just now, saying that he wanted to imitate Fan Yuqi, but could not find a hero like Jing Ke, so he asked me to wait for him to commit suicide, chop off his head and give it to
Cao Cao has repaid the kindness of my lord for coming to Yanzhou’s aid when he was in danger!”
"Oh!"
Yuan Shao stood up suddenly in shock and said anxiously: "How could he do such a thing? Isn't Gongtai trapping me in injustice? Quick, summon Gongtai quickly, I will have something to say to him!"
"
Guo Tu looked gloomy and said: "Chen Gongtai's head is here."
After saying that, the follower came across a wooden plate. He reached out and untied the silk and satin on it, revealing Chen Gong's head.
"Gongtai, Gongtai!" Yuan Shao mourned greatly and cried out: "I just want to share wealth and honor with you, why did you leave me?"
All the generals and counselors came to advise Yuan Shao not to be too sad, lest he hurt his body.
Yuan Benchu cried bitterly for a while, stretched out his hand to wipe his tears, and sighed: "Since Gongtai has the high righteousness of the ancients, how can I let down his good intentions? Come on, send Gongtai's head to Cao Jun's camp.
!”
The next day, Cao Cao received the package from Yuan Shao in the camp. Smelling the familiar smell of blood in the wooden box, he knew it and said with a smile, "What did Yuan Benchu send here?"
After opening the package and then opening the wooden box, Cao Cao looked at Chen Gong's grinning face in the box and chuckled: "Gongtai, are you okay with your visit? Hahaha!"
He stood up and was about to say something when suddenly a soldier rushed in, knelt on the ground and said: "Your Majesty, the imperial troops came out from Henan and have already passed Zhongmou and defeated Yuan Shao's army and Jiang Qi's troops.
!”
Cao Cao laughed when he heard this and said, "Oh, Chen Cheng came late, but he was still a step too late."
Another messenger rushed in and shouted: "Report, the imperial army is divided into three groups, one going to Dongjun and the other to Yuzhou. Chen Thief led the central army and went straight to Yongqiu!"
"The troops are divided into three groups?" Cao Cao pondered for a moment, then turned to look at the map on the desk. He stretched out his hand and drew on the map of Yanzhou for a while, then said to himself: "How come the troops were divided into three groups?
Is it possible that Chen Wenzheng doesn't know the principle of concentrating troops? Is there some fraud involved?"
He pondered for a while and then loudly ordered: "Come here, send an order to the whole army to set off immediately. Let's go to Xiangyi!"
Xiangyi is not far from Yongqiu and is the hometown of Wei Zi. When Cao Cao raised his army, he got the help of the Wei family. This time he was able to quickly occupy half of Yanzhou, and Wei Zi also had a share of the credit. Moreover, Xiangyi is far away from the Wei family.
Yuzhou is closer. He chose this place because he wanted to use the favorable location and people to completely defeat Chen Cheng's main force.
Cao Cao ran the army harshly, so military discipline was strict and orders were prohibited. The army moved quickly. After receiving the order, it quickly left camp and headed west. When Cao Cao's army took action, Yuan Shao also received news that the imperial troops were coming eastward. He
He didn't care about sending people to accept the city that Cao Cao gave up, and immediately summoned the generals of the army to come to the big tent to discuss matters.
"I heard that Chen Cheng's troops were divided into three groups and went straight to Dongjun. Do you want to cut off our retreat?"
Yuan Shao asked everyone: "Should we call Ju Yi back first?"
Everyone was talking about it, and they all thought that the soldiers and horses attacking Xuzhou should be withdrawn first. Although Ju Yi only had 60,000 to 70,000 men, they were all the elite of the Jizhou army, including Zhang He, Gao Lan, Yan Liang, Wen Chou and other famous generals in Hebei.
.
Shen Pei said: "I didn't expect the imperial troops to arrive so quickly! It's better for us to join forces with Cao Mengde to defeat the Chen thief!"
"Yes, Yanzhou has been newly established, and there is Dongjun in the rear that has not yet been conquered. It is not appropriate to continue to attack Xuzhou!"
Seeing that everyone's opinions were rare, Yuan Shao immediately made the decision: "Send an order to Ju Yi, telling him not to attack Xuzhou now, and to come back immediately with his army!"
He then asked: "Chen's army is divided into three groups. We don't need to pay attention to the other two groups. Only Xu Rong leads the army to attack Dongjun. It is very worrying. Who can lead the army?"
Chunyu Qiong came out of the queue, raised his head and said: "I am willing to lead the troops to behead Xu Rong and present it to the lord's tent!"
Chun Yuqiong was once on an equal footing with Yuan Shao and Cao Cao. At that time, they were both one of the Eight Captains of Xiyuan. However, it was obvious that Chun Yuqiong's ability was not as good as Cao Cao's, and his family background was not as good as Yuan Shao's, so his situation became worse and worse.
.Not only was he firmly suppressed by Ju Yi, he was also outmatched by Yan Liang, Wen Chou and others.
Now that the four court pillars in Hebei are gone, Chunyu Qiong is overjoyed and secretly thinks: I should make meritorious deeds!
Chunyu Qiong's bravery was also well-known in the military in Hebei. Yuan Shao knew that Chunyu Qiong had a reputation for bravery, but he was not so good at leading troops in battles. In the fight with Zhang Yan and Gongsun Zan, Chunyu Qiong's performance was mediocre, far behind
Not as good as Ju Yi and others. But he doesn't have any generals at hand now, so he can only let Chunyu Qiong go.
Yuan Shao warned: "Xu Rong once followed Chen Cheng to defeat the Xiongnu, and later defeated Cao Cao in Yanzhou. He was a famous general in the world and should not be underestimated. When you go this time, just stop Xu Rong. Don't go into battle rashly. Wait until Ju Yida
It’s not too late to return with the army and fight the enemy again!”
Chunyu Qiong said loudly: "Don't worry, my lord, as long as I, Chun Yuqiong, are here, the road ahead will be safe in Mount Tai!"
Another person flashed out from the side, but it was Yuan Shao's eldest son Yuan Tan. Yuan Tan said loudly: "Commander father, I am willing to go with General Chunyu Qiqiong to fight the enemy!"
Although Yuan Shao preferred his younger son Yuan Shang, Yuan Tan was his biological son after all and did not want him to take risks. He said: "Swords and swords have no eyes in battle, so you'd better stay with me."
Yuan Tan thought to himself: How could he achieve great achievements if he stayed with his father?
After he was driven back to Yecheng from Yuzhou by Cao Cao, he was ridiculed by many people. He was holding a breath for a long time. At this time, he was focused on making meritorious service and could not listen to Yuan Shao's words. He just wanted to lead troops into battle. Yuan Shao had no choice but to
He distributed five thousand troops to Yuan Tan and warned: "Be careful and don't waste the battle!"
