Lin Feng ran very fast, and Cao Cao was not too slow in pursuit.
Linju City did not feel sad for long. Just after lunch, another troop came outside the city. The general commanding the army was Cao Hong, one of Cao Dabailian's fierce generals.
Cao Hong was going crazy.
They walked through Zaolingang under the smoke and fire, non-stop all the way, and finally arrived at the foot of Dang County.
Who would have expected that no foreign troops had ever come to Dang County. If Cao Cao hadn't spoken out and suppressed it, Cao Hong would have decided to move his anger to Dang County and carry out a massacre to vent his anger.
Arriving at the foot of Linju City, Cao Hong saw the hastily closed city gate, and his heart suddenly became angry again.
"The people in the city listened and quickly reported to Xiahou Huan that a certain Cao Hong had arrived."
There was no response from the city for a long time. Just when Cao Hong was about to lose control of his anger, a trembling old man suddenly appeared at the top of Linju City.
"General Cao, please tell me. General Xiahou did not return after fighting the enemy yesterday. We don't know where General Xiahou is now."
Cao Hong was shocked: "Who is he fighting with?"
"I don't know. Yesterday evening, a man who claimed to be the Niujiao King of Jigong Mountain came to borrow food. General Xiahou led his troops out of the city late at night to attack the enemy camp. He did not return at dawn, but instead some thieves entered the city and looted all the money and food in the city.
At noon, we led the army to the southwest."
Cao Hong went through the information in his mind, and he was afraid that the so-called Niujiao King of Jigong Mountain was a false claim.
Let's not talk about where Jigong Mountain is. Just say that at this time, except for Lin Feng, there is probably no second team that can defeat Xiahou Huan in Yuzhou.
Unless there is an invasion from Runan, but...
Thinking of this, Cao Hong's expression suddenly changed.
It's not impossible, almost everyone knows about Cao Cao's plot to capture Yuzhou.
Yuan Shu fell into the quagmire of Yangzhou and could not get out for a while.
But the Yuan family of Runan would not be willing to surrender without mercy, so they obediently offered Runan his hands.
It is not impossible if the Yuan family really sends troops to come to Laju City to cause trouble.
What's more, the southwest direction of Linju is where Runan is, so the suspicion of the Yuan family in Runan becomes even more convincing.
Two or three days' journey southwest of Linju City is Runan Chengfu County. Will the army that defeated Xiahou Huan be destined for Chengfu County?
The matter was so important that Cao Hong did not dare to take charge and ordered his men to set up camp and wait for Cao Cao's arrival.
Linju City was filled with howls again, and it was impossible to live this day.
The newly arrived troops are camping outside the city again. They won't enter the city again at night and wait for dawn to loot before leaving, right?
The family really doesn’t have much left over to make money, and if they are robbed again, the tragedy of starving to death will soon be staged in the city.
Towards evening, Cao Dabailian led the follow-up troops to arrive. It was strange to see that only Cao Hong came to greet him.
"Zilian, didn't Zhongde send that little tiger from Xiahou's family to guard Linju? Why?
Why didn't I come with you?"
Cao Hong shook his head repeatedly: "My lord, it is unknown whether Xiahou Huan will be defeated or dead. There is no information at Linju City that Lin Zhirou has led his army."
Cao Cao suddenly frowned: "What happened in Linju these days, please tell me in detail."
After listening to Cao Hong's report, Cao Dabai was also a little hesitant.
Normally speaking, the so-called King of Horns of Jigong Mountain must be Lin Feng's false name.
However, Cao Hong had to take precautions against his concerns, and it was indeed impossible for the Runan Yuan family to willingly bow their heads and admit defeat.
But what Cao Cao is worried about is not sending troops to Runan. With his current strength, if he hadn't worried that the Yuan family's resistance would be too heavy, which would lead to the loss of life in Yuzhou, he would have bulldozed Runan long ago.
He now wondered whether Lin Feng and Runan had reached some kind of agreement in private. If the two families joined forces, it would indeed give Cao Dabai a headache.
The possibility of Lin Feng and the Runan Yuan family joining forces is not small. If Lin Feng agrees not to continue attacking Yuan Shao and maintains the current situation in Jizhou for a long time, the Yuan family will definitely reciprocate and give Lin Feng the greatest help in Yuzhou.
Thinking about it this way, the most important thing for him right now is that he must not let Lin Feng escape into Runan.
Thinking of this, Cao Cao didn't even bother to take over Linju City, and ordered Cao Hong to send out troops to search and advance in the southwest direction as quickly as possible, making sure to bite Lin Feng's tail before he escaped into Runan.
Cao Hong took the order and left. Cao Cao ordered people to quickly send letters to Cheng Yu in Peicheng and Xun You in Yingchuan to explain the situation. At the same time, Cao Cao ordered people to take his command arrows and go to Jiyin to urge Xiahou Yuan to send troops to annex Liang County as soon as possible.
At this time, the whole Yuan family in Runan was in a state of uneasiness.
Yuan Shao was defeated in Jizhou, and Yuan Shu plunged into Yangzhou like a green man without being able to get out. The Yuan family of Runan, the dignified fourth generation and third prince, now has no soldiers and no generals, and is about to be at the mercy of others.
Yuan Wei's face was full of shame and anger, he was sitting on the Taishi chair and sulking at the table full of food.
Opposite him sat a young scribe.
This person has a yellow complexion, red eyes, a moon-white scribe's scarf on his head, and is wearing a navy blue scribe's robe. He gently strokes the faint mustache on his lips with his hand, and his face is full of smiles.
This person is Yuan Huan and Yuan Yaoqing, who together with Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu are known as the three heroes of the Yuan family.
It's just that Yuan Huan was different from the Yuan Shao brothers. He was not from the Yuan family in Runan, but from the Yuan family in Chen County, which was of the same clan as the Yuan family in Runan. He was the son of the current Situ Yuan Pang.
According to their seniority, Yuan Huan would call Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu uncles, and they were the grandchildren of Yuan Wei.
Yuan Wei sneered at Yuan Huan: "Is Xian Sun coming here this time to be a lobbyist for Tao Qian?"
Historically, Yuan Huan initially served as an official under Yuan Shu. After Yuan Shu's defeat, he transferred to Lu Bu. When Lu Bu was killed by Cao Cao, he actively surrendered to Cao Cao and became an important minister around Cao Cao. He served successively as an admonishing doctor and a doctor.
He holds a high position and is known for being outspoken and outspoken.
Cao Dabailian once evaluated all his ministers. Among them, only Cheng Yu, Cao Ren, and Yuan Huan were evaluated as the most brave.
.
Being ranked alongside Cheng Yu and Cao Ren in Cao Cao's mind shows that Yuan Huan is not a simple person.
But for some reason, Yuan Huan, who was supposed to serve under Yuan Shu at this time, had an inexplicable turn of fate and actually joined the Xuzhou camp.
At the moment, he is here to discuss with his uncle Yuan Wei on behalf of Tao Qian about carving up Yuzhou.
Tao Qian is a man of upright character and great ambition. He is proficient in everything from military strategy to government affairs.
Later generations' understanding of him mostly rested on the story of three concessions to Xuzhou, and they thought that Tao Qian was timid, incompetent and unwilling to take responsibility, which was a misunderstanding of him.
Tao Qian not only participated in the war to quell the Yellow Turban Rebellion, but also accompanied Huangfu Song on his expedition to Xiliang, and had many battles with Beigong Boyu, Han Sui and others without losing.
The third concession to Xuzhou was Tao Qian's helpless move. Who told him to do bad things with good intentions and offend Cao Dabai?
Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, once lived in Langye. After Cao Cao unified Yanzhou, he ordered his father to come over for a family reunion.
When Cao Song passed by Xuzhou, Tao Qian kindly sent someone to escort him. Unexpectedly, his subordinate Zhang Kai was a Yellow Turban bandit. When he saw the Cao family's wealth, he became evil and killed Cao Song's family and took him with him.
The money absconded.
As a result, Cao Cao became furious and believed that Tao Qian had killed his father. He sent an army to attack Xuzhou with all his strength to avenge his father's murder.
Unable to defeat Cao Cao on the battlefield, Tao Qian was so angry and anxious that he lay down on the hospital bed and died.
Seeing that Cao Cao's army was pressing closer and closer, his son was not up to par and had no ability. If Tao Qian did not give up Xuzhou to Liu Da'er, his son could lose Xuzhou to Cao Cao before he died.
Now that Cao Song is not dead, and Tao Qian has not been beaten all over the head by Cao Da, it is the time when he is high-spirited and has the world in mind, so he naturally covets Yuzhou.
At this time, Yuan Huan was sent to persuade Yuan Wei because he saw that Cao Cao was conquering Yuzhou step by step, and was afraid that he would be late and be succeeded by Cao Cao.
Yuan Wei seemed to be questioning Yuan Huan, but in fact he was ashamed of him.
As a member of the Yuan clan, Yuan Huan not only did not help the Yuan family, but instead acted as a lobbyist for Tao Qian. In Yuan Wei's view, his ancestors should be sacrificed in the family temple and Yuan Huan's name should be removed from the family tree.
Yuan Huan was not annoyed, and smiled and cupped his hands to Yuan Wei: "Uncle, you are joking. Although my grandnephew is an official under Tao Gongzu, he has the blood of our Yuan family flowing through him, so naturally he will not raise his elbows outward.
I'm sorry for the Yuan family, but I'm sorry for my ancestors."
"Since you still remember that your surname is Yuan, why did you speak for Tao Qian and ask me to help Tao Qian win Pei County?"
Yuan Huan smiled and stood up to pour a glass of wine for Yuan Wei. He lowered his voice and said, "Uncle, if my grandnephew is allowed to say something disrespectful, if you send a piece of letter to Pei County, will anyone really listen to it?"
Old Yuan Wei's face turned red with anger.
Yuan Huan really doesn't care about anything. His face is so useful. He has already sent a letter to all counties in Yuzhou to help Yuan Shu unify the whole territory of Yuzhou. Yuan Shu also needs to work hard in Yuzhou like an ant moving.
After nearly a year of operation, it has not conquered any city or county except Runan.