Chapter 40: Cheng Yu, Chen Gongxian and the collapse of the alliance
What's the fastest way to get from Luoyang to Qingzhou?
Of course, take a boat ride down the river.
It's a pity that the Yellow River now flows through Jizhou. Chen Mu is seeking death by boat now, so he can only take a detour through Yanzhou.
When Yanzhou was harassed by the Black Mountain Army, Liu Dai died in battle, and Cao Cao and Bao Xin returned to rescue him.
Since the two men did not have many troops, the battle with the Black Mountain Army was only in a stalemate stage at the beginning. Cao Cao and Bao Xin occupied Dongjun and slowly planned to conquer it.
As a result, Liu Bei returned to Qingzhou the next year and passed by Yanzhou. He marched tens of thousands of troops and bulldozed almost all the way.
Liu Bei didn't even need to take action. Gongsun Zan's 30,000 cavalry were handled by Cao Cao, Bao Xin and others.
At that time, Gongsun Zan had already learned that his hometown Youzhou had been attacked, and he was eager to return to the army. He simply led 30,000 cavalry to bulldoze the Yanzhou Black Mountain Army, and then borrowed the Bohai Sea from Pingyuan Kingdom to return to Youzhou.
So now not only Bao Xin is not dead, Cao Cao has also easily taken over the entire Yanzhou. Two months ago he sent an envoy to pay tribute to the central court and successfully served as the shepherd of Yanzhou.
Although everyone has now become a great prince, the previous friendship is still there, and there has never been hostility. The two sides often exchange letters.
Therefore, when Chen Mu entered Dongjun from Hanoi County, he was warmly received by Cao Cao.
Puyang, Dongjun.
It is actually very close from Luoyang to Puyang, about 600 miles away, and it took five or six days to walk. Cao Cao received the news in advance and had already held a banquet in Puyang.
Outside the city, Ximen Pavilion, the September autumn wind blows through the distant hills. The forest has turned yellow. The temperature has dropped rapidly recently and the weather has become gloomy. Although it has not rained, the autumn mood is very strong. Sometimes the temperature is very high.
High, sometimes the temperature is very low.
Cao Cao stopped in the pavilion and watched from a distance. He saw at the end of the official road, in the autumn wind, hordes of cavalry were coming like an overwhelming force, as if they were going to crush everything in front of them into powder.
When they approached Ximen Pavilion, the cavalry began to slow down slowly. Chen Mu was not at the front of the team, but in the center protected by the crowd.
After arriving close, many Youzhou knights showed their superb equestrian skills and slowed down to stop.
The crowd dispersed, and Chen Mu jumped out of the crowd and dismounted in front of Cao Cao.
Looking at this series of fancy operations, Cao Cao was speechless.
There seems to be no one in the world who is more afraid of death than Chen Mu. Not only does he always carry a thousand heavy armored cavalry for protection when he goes out, but these cavalry are one person and three horses, almost armed to the teeth.
Not to mention the mountain bandits and road tyrants along the way, even the regular princes' army did not have an army of tens of thousands, so they would not dare to provoke them easily.
It is indeed unsafe in troubled times, but is it?
Many scholars who traveled far and wide dared to conquer the world with a sword in their waist. Although many people died, it at least showed the courage of the Confucian scholars in the Han Dynasty.
Chen Zigui, however, acted like "there are always unscrupulous people who want to harm me" all day long, which is truly the shame of the Confucian scholars of the Han Dynasty.
Of course, Chen Mu didn't know that Cao Cao had labeled him as a Han Confucian. After getting off his horse, he showed a classic fake smile, with a face full of joy of reunion after a long separation, and happily raised his hands and saluted: "Brother Mengde, it's been more than a year since we met again."
See, I am very worried about you."
Cao Cao returned the gift, and whether it was false or false, he also said with a smile: "My dear brother, I haven't seen you for a long time, and I miss you dearly, brother Yu. I heard that you were passing by Yanzhou this time, so I specially prepared a banquet, please."
"Thank you brother!"
Chen Mu entered the city side by side with Cao Cao. As he walked, he noticed that there were several people accompanying Cao Cao. Judging from their appearance, there were young scholars and older scholars. They all looked at him with a smile. Although they had some guesses in their hearts,
But he knew that now was not the time to ask, so he just nodded and went to the city.
The two of them were talking and laughing along the way. More than ten people passed through Puyang Central Street and arrived at the county government residence. Everyone filed in, entered the middle hall, and entered the main hall. Cao Cao sat on the main seat, and Chen Mu sat on him.
The first one is the first, and the others sit in rows and sit according to their positions.
"Zi Gui, come here, let me introduce you."
While ordering the banquet to begin, Cao Cao said to Chen Mu while serving the dishes: "This is Zhang Shouling Cheng Yu, whose courtesy name is Zhongde, whom I conquered."
"Yu has met Dr. Guanglu."
"Sir, you are polite."
Chen Mu looked over and saw that Cheng Yu was about fifty, with a Chinese character face, a dignified appearance, and a goat's beard on his chin. Although he was older, he had bright eyes.
Seeing Chen Mu looking over, Cheng Yu bowed his hands and looked very serious.
Chen Mu also returned the gift.
With such a dignified appearance, who would have known that he would be a ruthless man who mixed human breasts into military rations?
"This is Puyang Lingchen Gong, named Gongtai."
Cao Cao pointed to another thin middle-aged man about forty years old and introduced him.
He saw Chen Gong's robes fluttering and his face clear. He sat there without saying a word. When Cao Cao introduced him, he cupped his hands towards Chen Mu and said, "I have met Doctor Guanglu and heard about his name for a long time. I am honored to meet him today."
See."
Looking at this wise man who would betray Cao Cao in the future, Chen Mu returned the favor with a smile: "County Magistrate Chen is a great talent. I have admired him for a long time."
Everyone thought he was just talking politely.
After all, Chen Gong has been around for so many years and has always been just a low-level official. Chen Mu, who debuted at the age of seventeen, has already become a famous figure in the world in just nine years. The two have no intersection, how could they have heard of him?
name?
But of course everyone doesn't know that Chen Mu heard it from "Three Kingdoms" and "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", so they definitely don't know the connotations of his words.
"This is Xi Xian, whose courtesy name is Zhicai. He is now the chief bookkeeper of my account."
Cao Cao pointed to the last Confucian scholar and said.
Chen Mu took a good look at this early counselor of Cao Cao and saw that he was probably in his thirties, with a thin face and not very good-looking, but very energetic and looking at him with a smile.
Is this Xi Zhicai?
Many people say that the real name of Xi Zhicai should be Zhicai, but in fact, those who know the history of the Han Dynasty know that only the lowest level untouchables would have a double name, and ordinary civilians would not have a double name.
How poor is Jia Kui?
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! I don’t even have a pair of pants. I can only borrow my wife’s brother’s pants to wear in winter, but I still have a single name and a word.
In the Han Dynasty, "two names are inappropriate" is no joke. This is a great principle written in "The Legend of Gongyang in the Spring and Autumn Period". Anyone with a little bit of status will abide by it.
Xi Zhicai was born in Yingchuan and was good friends with Xun Yu, Guo Jia and others. If he was an untouchable, how could the nobles make friends with him?
So in fact Zhicai must have been named Zhicai, but he died too early and his name was not recorded in the history books.
Today Chen Mu knew Xi Zhicai's name, Xi Xian.
A wise man is a talented person.
The word Zhicai is a model of "the name should be upright and the word should express virtue", which means that he hopes to become a talented and virtuous person.
"Xian has met Dr. Guanglu."
Xi Zhicai salutes.
Chen Mu smiled and said, "I heard that Mr. Wen Ruo is a good friend?"
Xi Zhicai said: "When I was in Yingchuan, Wen Ruo and I often had contact. Now that he is in Qingzhou, I miss him very much. I happened to want to ask Dr. Guanglu to send him a letter."
"It's a small matter."
Chen Mu waved his hand on his face and said it was just a trivial matter, but he thought darkly in his heart, Xi Zhicai was trying to poach me and persuade Xun Yu to come to Yanzhou.
Except for Cheng Yu and Chen Gongxian, I didn't see Guo Jia. It seems that Guo Jia has not yet become an official.
In fact, during this trip back to Qingzhou, Chen Mu also planned to recruit heroes from all over the world in the name of Liu Bei. Guo Jia, Pang Degong, and Sima Hui were among them.
He had originally considered using the name of the imperial court to conquer land, so that the chances of these hermits coming out of the mountains would be very high.
After all, the Han Dynasty is like this now. If they really care about the Han Dynasty, they might agree to help.
But the problem is that Chen Mu's future plan is to first use Liu Yu, a small court, to maintain his reputation and justice. After a few years, he will slowly unify the north. When Liu Yu is about to die of old age, he will wear the yellow robe of his big brother.
People like Pang De Company and Ma Hui are extremely wise men. Once their little thoughts are revealed, the relationship between Qingzhou Group and the Luoyang Court will be very awkward.
Therefore, these people must not go to Luoyang. If possible, try to arrange to go to Taishan Academy to study and become a consultant at the same time.
Some people may say that Zhong Yao's intelligence is not low, so if he is in Luoyang, won't he be afraid of being exposed by him?
However, Zhong Yao's intelligence is not low, but Chen Mu's mind is as deep as the sea. Even Liu Bei doesn't know his plan, and it is even more impossible for Zhong Yao to guess what will happen more than ten years later.
At least on the surface, the current Chen Mu is loyal to the Luoyang court, and has also promised to the Three Gongs and Nine Qings that as long as the world is pacified and Liu Yu abdicates or dies of old age, he will assist Liu Bei in selecting a suitable person from the clan to succeed him.
throne.
Therefore, Chen Mu is not afraid of Zhong Yao, whose intelligence is around 90, but is afraid of people like Ma Hui of Pang De Company who don't know much about them and don't know how smart they really are.
To put it simply, the wise men of the Three Kingdoms are like crucian carp crossing the river, but most of them, Chen Mu, have a clear understanding of them through history, know what kind of people they are, understand some of their deeds, and then make judgments.
Hermits like Pound Company and Ma Hui are opponents you don't understand. If you make a mistake, you will lose everything.
Therefore, in order not to make any mistakes, Chen Mu naturally could not make random moves and let them go to Luoyang.
After introducing a few people around me, there is no need to introduce people like Xiahou Dun and Cao Ren. They have known each other for two or three years. At this time, the dishes were also served, and the banquet began. For a while, glasses were exchanged, and everyone was enjoying themselves.
After drinking for three rounds, Cao Cao suddenly hissed and sighed repeatedly.
Chen Mu thought for a while and decided not to turn a blind eye to his performance, so he said, "Brother, why are you sighing?"
Cao Cao said with a sad face: "Last month, Tao Qian attacked our Jibei Kingdom for no reason, and then marched into Dong'a and Fagan. Although I fought hard to defeat him, he occupied Jibei. Brother Yuncheng also had to retreat to Dongping to resist the attack from Xuzhou.
attack."
"What?"
Chen Mu realized the seriousness of the matter and frowned: "Tao Qian attacked you for no reason."
"good."
Cao Cao sighed: "My major general has few soldiers and little food and grass. There has been no chaos in Xuzhou in recent years. The army is strong and the people are rich. I may not be able to resist him."
Chen Mu ran through thousands of thoughts in his mind instantly, and his brain was running like an electronic computer.
His initial strategy was to attack from the north and south.
Gongsun Zan was in Youzhou and attacked Jizhou from the north, Liu Bei was in Qingzhou, Tao Qian was in Xuzhou, Cao Cao was in Yanzhou, and Guan Yu was in Sili. In this way, everyone connected in a line and formed an alliance, which surrounded Jizhou from almost all sides.
At that time, no matter whether Jizhou is Wang Fen or Yuan Shao, basically they will not be able to escape the fate of being besieged and defeated.
Sun Jian cooperated with Liu Biao in Yuzhou to resist Yuan Shu's attack. Then as long as Liu Bei occupied Jizhou, he could immediately unite many allies and go south to attack Yuan Shu.
In this way, it would only be a matter of time before the two Yuans were destroyed, and the small court of Liu Yu was used to gather strength, and then Guanzhong and Yizhou were conquered and the world was conquered.
Many years later, when Liu Yu died, Liu Bei became the most powerful, and with the addition of the yellow robe, it was basically a matter of course, without any hindrance.
But now Tao Qian attacks Yanzhou without any reason, and the initial alliance is broken.
In other words, Tao Qian had already ruined his plan before it was implemented.
what is going on?
Is Tao Qian losing his mind, or is there someone secretly colluding with him to sabotage his plan?
For a moment, Chen Mu thought quickly in his mind, trying to think of the answer to this question.