Chapter 76: When you live in peace, the world is at rest; when you are angry, the princes are afraid
On the bank of the Changjian River in the east of Huayin City, sparse military camps stood. Before they even got close, a strong medicinal fragrance hit their nostrils.
Just like in the city, Cao Cao and his army were also brewing medicinal herbs in their camp, but they were not medicine to dispel cold, but medicine to treat trauma. This was a common medicine in the army, so there was no need to worry about missing it.
Before the expedition, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, and Bao Xin had a total of 20,000 soldiers and horses. Now there are only 12,000 soldiers left, with a loss of 8,000 and a large number of wounded. It is even worse than Liu Bei.
But there was no way. It was going smoothly before the invasion of Chang'an. But after the invasion, they were attacked by Lu Bu's Xiliang cavalry and suffered heavy losses.
And forget it, after withdrawing from Chang'an City, they happened to encounter Xu Rong who was returning to defend, and there was another big battle.
At that time, Xu Rong had just learned that Chang'an had been attacked, and realized that Liu Bei's army had actually divided his forces, with some retreating and some sneak attacking. He became angry and fearful of Dong Zhuo's punishment, so he issued a death order to attack.
In this battle, Cao Cao was hit by a stray arrow and almost died, but his cousin Cao Hong saved him. Sun Jian fought hard and suffered more than ten wounds, and was almost carried back by his four generals.
The worst thing is Bao Xin. Although he was not injured, the most he lost was his subordinates. There were more than 10,000 people, and now there are less than 6,000 left, which is very miserable.
The three of them worked hard to achieve this, so they naturally resented Liu Bei for fleeing from the battle, and they even looked down on Liu Bei's soldiers.
They were stationed outside the city and received all grain, grass and medicinal materials delivered to them, but no one was allowed in. Their attitude was very arrogant.
When Chen Mu arrived outside the three-man military camp, the soldier guarding the door stepped forward and shouted: "Stop, the important area of the military camp, and no other people are allowed to enter."
"Um?"
Zhao Yun, who had been Chen Mu's bodyguard, suddenly became unhappy. He took a step forward and glared at several soldiers.
Chen Mu smiled slightly, stopped Zhao Yun, cupped his hands and said softly: "I'd like to inform you that Chen Zigui from Puyin has come to visit Colonel Cao, Grand Administrator Sun and Grand Administrator Bao."
"snort."
Unexpectedly, the soldier said coldly: "The captain is seriously injured and cannot see guests."
"Just give the notification."
Chen Mu still said gently: "When they hear my name, they will see me."
"No, the prefect said, no one will be seen."
Sun Jian's soldiers also talked like this.
When the soldiers guarding the surrounding area saw what was going on here, they looked at them one by one as if they were watching a show.
For Liu Beijun's sudden betrayal, the other Kwantung Army members were deeply disgusted, and even Liu Beijun and everyone else did not give him face.
Seeing the soldiers on the other side being so unreasonable, Zhao Yun couldn't help it and shouted coldly: "Even Captain Cao and Grand Administrator Sun dare not be arrogant in front of Shangshu Ling. How dare you do the following?"
"The following is a big crime! We fought hard in Chang'an to rescue the emperor, where are you? We were ambushed on the way, where are you?"
An incisor general who had read books and knew how to read sneered: "Now he comes here to show off, it's really disgusting."
"you!"
Zhao Yun was furious and was about to draw his spear and stab him.
Chen Mu looked at the incisor general and asked, "Who are you?"
"Sanyang Li Gan!"
The man responded proudly.
Li Dian's uncle?
Chen Mu thought for a while and said, "Oh, please inform me then."
"Don't go!"
Li Qian replied indifferently.
Chen Mu asked again: "You really don't want to go?"
"Not going."
Li Qian said again.
"Okay, go back."
Chen Mu turned around and rode away, saying to Zhao Yun: "Send an order to cut off all their food and medicinal materials."
"What?"
Li Qian was shocked and ran over quickly to stop his horse and asked: "Now that so many brothers have been injured in the army, and medicines are in short supply, why do you cut off our food and medicines?"
Chen Mu glanced at him coldly: "Cao Mengde is so arrogant. He doesn't even meet me. He still wants us to continue to supply supplies? Do I owe you?"
Chen Mu had already checked before he came here. In the past few days, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Bao Xin and the others had been looking for supplies from Liu Bei.
In fact, they just took advantage of Liu Bei's guilt for their existence and kept sucking Liu Bei's blood.
The entire Kwantung Army's grain and grass supplies were supplied by Qingzhou and Jizhou.
Although Wang Fen also gave supplies, the centralized dispatching power was in Qianzhao's hands, which means that the supplies were actually in Liu Bei's hands. Since you are so arrogant and arrogant, just break up and forget about the supplies.
From Guandong back to their base, the nearest one is Cao Cao, which is more than 1,500 miles away. There is no food supply along the way. After they return, they will see how many people are left.
This is the difference in the way of doing things. Now Liu Bei is hesitant and feels guilty towards Cao Cao and the others. He will give them whatever they want, and he has to carefully apologize for his sins. It feels a bit like being PUA.
Chen Mu, on the other hand, is not used to it at all. If it weren't for his biggest weakness of being greedy for life and fear of death, he would be the man who should be a hero for the rest of his life.
"you!"
When Li Qian saw how big the matter was, he was shocked, angry and at a loss.
Chen Mu looked at him coldly, then turned around and prepared to leave directly, without giving Li Qian a chance to continue talking.
In the camp, Xiahou Dun, who was secretly observing not far away, saw that something was wrong. He quickly ran out and shouted: "Shang Shu ordered you to go slowly. This is all a misunderstanding. The captain has invited you."
Hearing the voice behind him, Chen Mu turned his head, and a flower-like smile suddenly bloomed on his indifferent face: "It turned out to be a misunderstanding. Since brother Yuan Rang said so, then Mu naturally has no reason to leave. Please also ask Yuan Rang. Brother, lead the way."
Li Qian and the soldiers guarding the gate were dumbfounded.
One second he had an angry look on his face, and the next second he showed a gentle smile.
What kind of expression control can achieve this?
If they didn't know about the Oscars in later generations, they would probably have to praise you and say, "I won't go to see this year's Academy Awards unless I award them to you."
In the three-man camp, Sun Jian was covered with white cloth bandages, Bao Xin looked ugly, and Cao Cao sat on his knees in silence.
After a while, Bao Xin said: "Mengde, what do you think Chen Zi will say when he comes back?"
Cao Cao sneered and said: "What else could it be? I'm just explaining it to Liu Xuande."
Sun Jian was not temperamental, and just said: "Mengde and Xuande also know that they are wrong. Let's find a way to get off the stairs and don't make it too unpleasant."
Cao Cao said angrily: "Is this a question of knowing whether he is wrong or not? It was Liu Bei who hesitated, delayed the opportunity to fight, caused the emperor to be defiled, and killed countless soldiers. Such behavior is extremely abominable."
"But......."
Sun Jian hesitated and said: "Didn't the princes of the imperial court send a message telling us not to attack Chang'an? Then Dong Zhuo threatened the emperor. If we really attack Chang'an, the emperor's life..."
Cao Cao stopped talking.
This is indeed a big problem. Dong Zhuo was so cruel and cruel that he actually threatened the emperor and almost murdered him.
Fortunately, Chang'an was not captured this time. If they had captured Chang'an and killed the emperor, their sin would have been huge.
Because the current problem is that since King Chenliu was killed, the late Emperor Xiaokang of Han only had the current emperor as his heir.
Once Liu Bian died, the Han Dynasty had no heir.
Although this kind of thing happened several times in the history of the Eastern Han Dynasty, for example, Emperor Huan and Emperor Kang were selected as successors from the clan because the previous emperor had no heirs.
But the problem is that today is different from the past. When Emperor Huan and Emperor Kang succeeded to the throne, although the country and the people were not peaceful, the country was still stable and there were no major disturbances.
Now, anyone with a discerning eye can see that after Dong Zhuo's chaos, the authority of the central government of the Han Dynasty has dropped to a freezing point.
Let’s not talk about the treasonous Liu Yan in Yizhou. Let’s just talk about Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu and other princes. They actually chose to capture Luoyang and withdraw their troops when they had sufficient food, grass and troops, and returned to their bases to become local emperors.
What kind of mentality is this?
Even a fool can see that these people are intent on separatism and disobey the government's management.
Therefore, once Liu Bian dies, the big man is basically finished.
This is another old story from the late Han Dynasty.
Although Cao Cao and the others have not thought that far, their keen intuition still tells them that Liu Bian has become a banner for the Han Dynasty. At least if he dies now, the blow to the country of the Han Dynasty will be extremely huge, and
They did not dare to bear the charge of killing Liu Bian.
So on this matter, even Cao Cao, who has always been brave, did not dare to say anything. Because from another perspective, Liu Bei's withdrawal of troops this time may be a wise decision to preserve the continuation of the Han Dynasty's fire.
The atmosphere in the camp was silent. After a while, Xiahou Dun shouted from outside: "Please come in, Lord Secretary."
Chen Mu walked into the camp and saw three people.
A fire was lit in the middle of the camp. Cao Cao knelt on the main seat, with his upper body exposed and his shoulder wounded. Sun Jian lay on his left side, his whole body bandaged into a rice dumpling. Bao Xin sat on the right side. Although he was not injured, his face was slightly dark.
He saw Chen Mu coming in but didn't even look at him.
I still feel resentment in my heart.
Chen Mu smiled slightly, cupped his hands and said, "Mu, I have met three brothers."
"It turns out to be Zigui."
Cao Cao's expression also changed quickly, and he invited him to sit down as if nothing was wrong: "Sit down, sit down."
Chen Mu sat down next to Sun Jian and looked at everyone leisurely.
If he didn't speak, no one would speak.
Cao Cao winked at Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Dun said to the soldiers on duty in the camp: "Get out."
Everyone filed out, and soon there were only four of them left in the tent.
"What are you going to do when you come back?"
Bao Xin suddenly spoke.
Chen Mu smiled and said, "I'm here to congratulate you brothers."
"Congratulations?"
Bao Xin was so angry that he said: "We have lost the battle, where does the joy come from? Did Zigui come to see our joke?"
"No, no."
Chen Mu shook his head and said: "The first volume of "Chasing Dong Ji" has been completed. Once it spread throughout the country, people all over the world praised the heroic spirit of these brothers."
"In the past, these words would have made me happy, but now that we have been defeated, people in the world will probably laugh at me after they find out."
Sun Jian sighed, it was indeed a good thing that this book came out, it spread their reputation.
But the problem is that the Kwantung Army defeated Dong Zhuo with great courage and forced him to retreat to Guanzhong. It was an unprecedented victory.
But now it is a big defeat. What will the world think of it then? If it starts but ends, "Chasing Dong Ji" will become a joke.
Unexpectedly, Chen Mu smiled and said: "Do you know the difference between repeated battles and repeated defeats and repeated defeats and repeated battles?"
"Don't they all mean the same thing?"
Sun Jian was puzzled.
Cao Cao thought about it a bit and asked tentatively: "The former is incompetence, and the latter is courage?"
"good."
Chen Mu nodded: "The reason for repeated defeats is due to incompetence, so I keep fighting and losing. But as soon as I change the position, it immediately becomes that even if I can't defeat you, I still have the courage to declare war on you."
"The Dong thieves are already powerful. They have the strongest Xiliang cavalry in the world, and because of road problems, Gongsun Bogui's Youzhou cavalry can't get through. Most of our troops are infantry, so how can we fight against them? Just tell everyone the reason.
, I believe that people all over the world will also understand our failure."
"Furthermore, Thief Dong also used the emperor's threat to force us to avoid going all out. When forced to do so, we had no choice but to retreat tactically. We first rescued the victims in the Guanzhong area, and we will plan for it slowly. Everyone
Do you think that by balancing courage and benevolence, people in the world will laugh at us?"
This is to attribute this failure to two points.
First, the Kwantung Army did not have cavalry, so it would suffer heavy losses when fighting on the plains against the Xiliang cavalry.
The second is that Dong Zhuo used the emperor as a threat to prevent them from making a large-scale attack.
So they had no choice but to save countless miserable people in Guanzhong first, and then slowly look for opportunities to attack Chang'an.
In fact, it was to find a way out of the Kwantung Army's failure.
Otherwise, you would be writing "Chasing Dong Ji" one second to make a name for yourself, and the next second you would be beaten into a panic, which would really be a loss of face.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! There are many ways to control public opinion, one of which is to gain sympathy and use Dong Zhuo's cruelty to set off the kindness of the Kwantung Army. Use Dong Zhuo to control the emperor to set off the Kwantung Army's incompetence
The helplessness of daring to make a difference.
Compared with later generations with the explosion of information, the people of the Han Dynasty could receive information in extremely narrow ways, which meant that an incident was extremely sensational and explosive in their eyes.
In particular, this matter is also related to world affairs. Although the people at the bottom may not care about these, they only care about whether they can eat today and whether they can survive.
But the impact of the information is not on the people at the bottom who don't even know how to read, but on those wealthy and powerful people who are literate.
In this era, the power of the people is very small.
Those who truly control the foundation of the Han Dynasty, control public opinion, control wealth, and control population are these powerful families from all over the world.
Although their individual strength is still very small, together they are a terrifying force.
Including the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the famous "Guanlong Group" was one of the representatives.
So what Chen Mu has to do now is to confuse right and wrong and control the right to speak.
Let these powerful families sympathize with the Kwantung Army, the emperor, and the Han Dynasty, so that they can influence the people at the bottom.
After all, in this era, the lower class people were indifferent to the royal family, but there were still many powerful families who cared about the Han Dynasty.
Hearing Chen Mu's words, Cao Cao's eyes flashed with something strange.
Bao Xin and Sun Jian had not thought so deeply, but Cao Cao understood what Chen Mu meant.
He thought for a while, his tone softened a lot, and said: "What Shangshu Ling said is indeed fair. We have worked so hard, I believe that people in the world will not blame us."
Chen Mu smiled and said, "That's exactly it."
This can also be regarded as an intention to reconcile, because Liu Bei had gone against them before, which actually caused the alliance relationship to be somewhat broken.
It would be the best thing for everyone to take a step back now.
Sun Jian didn't care much about the deal between them, so he said: "I heard that Xuande is seriously ill. I wonder what the situation is? When can we continue to attack Chang'an?"
Chen Mu said: "Brother caught the cold occasionally, he should be fine after a few days of training. But now, I'm afraid I can't fight in Chang'an."
Sun Jian said silently: "Then do you just have to watch the emperor being held hostage?"
"There's nothing we can do about it."
Chen Mu shook his head: "Everyone, the Han Dynasty is in decline now, and we need to turn the tide and save the world. But the Dong thief has hijacked the emperor, and we are afraid of the rat. How dare we fight to the death? Now we can only besiege Chang'an, move the surrounding people away, and then
Figure it out slowly to see what happens next."
"How long will it take?"
Bao Xin asked: "If Thief Dong doesn't let go of the Emperor for one day, then we have to wait until the day Thief Dong dies of old age?"
"Of course not."
Chen Mu said with a smile: "The current situation in Chang'an is extremely serious, and the internal atmosphere is solemn. Not only are we looking forward to Dong Zhuo's death, but the princes of the court and the people of Chang'an are also looking forward to his death. Since it cannot be conquered from the outside, we should start from the inside."
Cao Cao asked: "How to start from within?"
"Of course it's a plan."
Chen Mu looked at the three people and said slowly: "My ancestor Qu Nihou used gold to rebel against the Chu army, and also alienated the Overlord and Fan Zeng. This is the way to create enemies."
"The plan is coming?"
Cao Cao asked again.
Chen Mu smiled slightly: "I expected that Dong Zhuo would be cruel and unkind, and Xu Rong and Duan Xuan would definitely be punished by Dong Zhuo if he returned to the army. Lu Bu was greedy for money and lustful, and he always had rifts with the Xiliang generals. He could let the princes of the imperial court collect gold and silver to befriend Lu Bu.
If Lu Bu is allowed to slander him, Dong Zhuo will definitely lose an arm."
"What if this plan doesn't work?"
Sun Jian said: "Xu Rong is Dong Zhuo's favorite general. For a Youzhou native to be on an equal footing with Hu Zhen and other Xiliang people, it proves that Dong Zhuo values him extremely. How can he punish him so easily?"
"It doesn't matter. This plan is to kill two birds with one stone. Even if Dong Zhuo doesn't punish Xu Rong, Xu Rong and Lu Bu can still have a head-on conflict. The two are at odds. As time goes by, Lu Bu and Xu Rong will definitely resent Dong Zhuo for not favoring them.
Lu Bu, in particular, has always been extremely ambitious, and all he needs to do is send a lobbyist to destroy Dong Zhuo."
Chen Mu calmly expressed his thoughts.
Cao Cao, Sun Jian, Bao Xin and others did not comment. After a while, Cao Cao said: "In that case, so be it. Anyway, our soldiers and horses are exhausted and unable to fight anymore. If Zi Gui has a plan, I will implement it. I
Wait and watch Zigui's method to see if it works."
"hehe."
Chen Mu stood up, bowed his hands and said, "That's it for today. In two days, when my elder brother's condition gets better, he will come to the camp to apologize in person. I also ask all brothers not to be angry anymore. At present, the enemy is powerful, and we should take the overall situation as our priority.
Chong. We are waiting for the princes to unite their forces. If we unite, the world will prosper, and if we divide, the world will decline. Since the war cannot cause disputes in a short period of time, please consider my methods."
"Sorry for not sending you far!"
The three of them also stood up with difficulty and bowed to him with their hands raised.
Chen Mu turned around and left the camp.
It's just a small thing to come over today and help Liu Bei make peace.
The real big thing is to make the next layout.
As mentioned just now, as a countermeasure, we will first cause chaos in Chang'an.
When Dong Zhuo was busy with civil strife and had no time to worry about it, he would move all the people in Guanzhong to enrich Qingzhou.
When the plan is completed, it will be the time for Cao Cao and others to see their own methods.
When you live in peace, the world will be at peace; when you are angry, the princes will be afraid.
Since Su Qin and Zhang Yi, there has been no third person with such ability.
But today, when the age of great strife is about to come, it is time for the world to see how I, Chen Mu, control the world!
At that time, Cao Cao, Sun Jian, and Bao Xin will definitely feel what real fear is.