Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1240 Aftermath
Cao Cao only felt a bloody taste in his mouth. He opened his eyes and asked, "Where are we?"

Zhong Yao, who was standing by, said quickly, "It's still more than a hundred miles to Luoyang."

After hearing this, Cao Cao said, "We will go to Luoyang and not leave."

"What?" Zhong Yao immediately objected, "Luoyang is too close to Jizhou. I'm afraid it will be difficult to defend against the Jin army."

Even Sima Yi on the side was surprised. Luoyang belonged to Wei County in Jizhou, and was only 600 miles away from Yecheng. It was far from the threat range of the Jin army. Moreover, after Dong Zhuo's fire, Luoyang suffered several wars. Now the city defenses were dilapidated and it was impossible to defend the city.

The original plan before departure was to travel west to Chang'an, relying on the terrain of Guanzhong for defense, and to form a corner with Xudu in the south to resist the Jin army, which was the safe strategy.

Cao Cao said, "I'm afraid my body can't hold on any longer."

Zhong Yao and Sima Yi both understood the meaning of Cao Cao's words and felt complicated.

The day before yesterday, when Cao Cao was retreating with his troops, he was still caught up by the majority of the Jin army. In the chaos, the two sides shot at each other, and arrows flew like rain. It was extremely difficult to dodge the arrows in the dark night, and many generals and soldiers on both sides were injured.

After the generals escorted Cao Cao to retreat successfully, they found that several arrows had hit Cao Cao's armor. Cao Cao was exhausted at the time and did not feel any pain, so he pulled out the arrows and threw them away, then slept with his armor.

As a result, when Cao Cao woke up, he felt pain in his body and could not move. Mrs. Bian, who was standing by, hurriedly called a doctor. After taking off Cao Cao's armor, they found that an arrow had penetrated the armor and injured Cao Cao. The wound was about an inch wide and three or four inches deep.

The reason why Cao Cao didn't notice it at that time was, firstly, he was too excited and nervous, so he was not sensitive to pain; secondly, the armor was too tight, and the arrow pressed on the wound after being pulled out, causing the blood to flow out slowly.

In addition, Cao Cao himself had been busy on the battlefield and fell asleep due to excessive fatigue, so he did not notice his injury. However, after a night, the wound was not treated in time, the bleeding did not stop, and his condition began to deteriorate.

Although the doctors tried every possible way to treat Cao Cao, perhaps because Cao Cao's health had already failed, his wounds never healed. During the three or four hundred miles of journey, his injuries recurred from time to time, making Cao Cao miserable.

Yecheng is more than 600 miles away from Luoyang, and Luoyang is more than 700 miles away from Chang'an. After walking for more than ten days to get close to Luoyang, Cao Cao finally realized that it was difficult for him to support it, so he decided to station the entire army in Luoyang.

Zhong Yao advised: "If you don't have to personally take charge of Luoyang, you can send someone there."

"Besides, three or four hundred miles south of Luoyang is Xudu, whose defenses are much stronger than Luoyang, and it is also where the emperor resides. It is better than that."

Cao Cao snorted coldly: "Do I have to go back to Xudu in this state?"

"Won't we be laughed at?"

"Besides, Xudu is my base camp. If I retreat, wouldn't it mean that I'm being beaten to my doorstep?"

Sima Yi said, "In the past, Xiang Yu was driven back to his base camp Pengcheng by Emperor Gaozu, and only then did he fight back and win a great victory. My Lord, you must not lose your confidence in turning the situation around because of your momentary impatience."

Zhong Yao thought to himself, what kind of example are you giving? Don’t you know what happened to Xiang Yu?

But Zhong Yao himself could not find any other excuse for a while. After all, the Wei army was defeated too thoroughly this time. The Central Plains territory that was finally seized from Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu was almost lost in the battle of Yecheng.

After this battle, not to mention Jizhou, even nearly half of Yanzhou and Yuzhou fell into the hands of Jin State, and the situation was very clear. With the current strength of the Wei army, it would be difficult to defend the remaining territories of the two states.

Cao Cao shook his head and said, "No, the Guandong-Guanzhong line is the key to resisting the Jin army. If I don't take charge of it myself, I'm afraid people will be divided and my foundation will be in danger of being destroyed."

Sima Yi still insisted on his own opinion, "The survival of Wei depends on you and the Cao family. It is really unpredictable to confront the Jin army head-on now."

"Also, near Luoyang and Chang'an, are Han Sui's 20,000 Xiliang cavalrymen. After he lost Huaicheng, he stationed here."

"Although Yi does not doubt his loyalty, he should always prepare for the worst. If Jin promises him a high position and great benefits, he may show up."

Sima Yi's words hit the nail on the head when Cao Cao was thinking. When he was strong, he could still suppress Han Sui, but this time the Wei army that fled was only 20,000 to 30,000 people, and more than half of them were injured. If Han Sui became disloyal, there might really be changes!

Moreover, Cao Cao was still very wary of Ma Chao. Although he recognized Cao Cao as his adoptive father, Ma Chao's previous adoptive father was Han Sui. Who knew if he would betray Cao Cao repeatedly like Lu Bu did?

Thinking of this, Cao Cao asked the two men, "What do you think of Ma Chao?"

The two said in unison, "This man must not be entrusted with an important task, so as not to repeat the story of Lu Bu."

Cao Cao listened, nodded slightly, and said, "Call Zihuan over. I have something to say to him."

Cao Pi came over excitedly, got into the carriage, and bowed, saying, "I pay my respects to the king."

He lowered his head, but found that Cao Cao did not respond. He looked at Zhong Yao in confusion. Zhong Yao hurried forward, but found that Cao Cao had fainted.

Everyone panicked and hurriedly called for medical treatment. Although Cao Cao was able to save his life temporarily after a lot of trouble, he was still in a coma with a fever. Seeing this, Zhong Yao hurriedly called Xun You, who was in the rear army, and Sima Yi and the other two discussed it. They all felt that if this matter was spread out, the army would be in chaos, and it would be unsuitable to go to Luoyang again. In this situation, the Wei army stationed in Luoyang might be even worse than Yecheng!

At the suggestion of Zhong Yao, the three of them went to Cao Pi and explained the situation. Finally, Zhong Yao said, "The Wei army really cannot go to war in the short term. If they go to Luoyang, the Jin army will surely follow them. The outcome is really unpredictable."

Cao Pi asked, "What do you three mean?"

The three of them bowed together and said, "Please give the order, my lord, to lead the army to Xudu on behalf of our lord!"

Cao Pi listened and nodded, "Okay, everything depends on you three!"

After hearing this, the three of them immediately took the order and arranged their troops to turn south and head towards Xu Du.

Cao Pi returned to the carriage and saw people and horses rushing outside the window, changing directions in a chaotic manner. He felt very proud of himself. This was the prince. He could change the fate of so many people with just one sentence and hold their life and death in his hands!

Moreover, in the near future, these soldiers and generals will all belong to you. When the time comes, when you give orders, no one dares to disobey. This is the real king!

He looked at the convoy behind him. Those dozen or so cars were filled with Cao Cao's concubines brought from Yecheng. Among them, there were a few good-looking ones who had made Cao Pi salivate. Even his lower body, which had been numb for a long time, felt a little restless.

As long as Cao Cao dies, all of these will be his!
Cao Pi warned himself that he must be patient until the day when the dust settled. After all, his position as the crown prince was not set in stone and could be deposed by Cao Cao at any time.

What Cao Pi feared most from the beginning to the end was that Cao Cao would cede land in exchange for Cao Ang. At that time, he would have no chance of survival.

Although the possibility of such a thing happening is not high, it is not impossible, especially since Cao Cao is about to die. People's minds are most likely to change at this time, which is also what Cao Pi is worried about.

A thought suddenly flashed through his mind: it would be best if Cao Cao died now!

Cao Pi naturally would not say what he was thinking. He turned his gloomy gaze to another carriage, where Cao Zhi was, accompanying Madam Bian.

Originally, compared to the dark-minded Cao Pi, Cao Zhi was more liked by Lady Bian, and he spent more time with her. Cao Pi understood that although Lady Bian did not say it, she was definitely more inclined towards Cao Zhi in her heart.

When Cao Pi thought of Cao Zhi's appearance, he couldn't help but get angry. He had finally caught Cao Zhi's handle and made him escape from Cao's mansion, thus kicking him out of the game completely. But Cao Zhi had the audacity to come back!

Thinking of the time when Cao Zhi's reputation was at its peak and he had lost all his confidence at one point, Cao Pi felt so angry that his teeth were itching. He thought to himself, "When I become the King of Wei, I will settle the score with you!"
But Cao Pi still hasn't figured out why Cao Cao chose him between the two of them. At that time, Cao Zhi had not escaped yet, so no matter how you look at it, Cao Zhi had more hope!
Cao Pi was in a mess. The journey to Xuchang was the most critical. He had to see who among all the officials was most suitable to be his confidant!
At the same time, Yuan Xi received information from the front saying that Cao's army was heading towards Xu Du.

He showed the letter to Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun and said, "It is better to lead the troops bravely to pursue the enemy. Cao's army will definitely pursue them, but I don't want to send too many troops."

"First, the Wei army has not been completely pacified yet, and there are tens of thousands of Cao's defeated soldiers around. If they become bandits, it will be very troublesome."

"So the focus now is to repair Yecheng before winter comes so that the people can spend the winter safely."

"Second, we will eliminate the remaining forces of the Wei army and ensure the stability of the Wei army."

“Third, we need to reorganize our forces to prevent any changes from happening in the north or south.”

Zhuge Liang and Lu Xun knew in their hearts that the variables Yuan Xi was referring to were the Wu Kingdom in the south and the Xianbei outside the Great Wall in the north.

After some discussion and speculation, the two came to a conclusion that there would most likely be action in both the north and the south this winter.

Not to mention the north, the early entry of winter in the north indicates that the winter will be even colder. If there is a snowstorm outside the Great Wall and the people are left with nowhere to go, a large number of Xianbei bandits may invade in winter.

The second is the State of Wu, which learned of the battle of Yecheng between the Wei and Jin Dynasties and has been sending troops to harass Jianghuai. After all, this may be the last opportunity that the State of Wu can exploit.

Yuan Xi said: "Which side do you think is more likely to launch a full-scale attack?"

Lu Xun said, "I think based on Sun Quan's character, Wu is more likely."

Zhuge Liang said, "In my opinion, both sides will definitely send troops, and Wu will send troops earlier."

"The snowstorm in the north will happen in a month. As long as we send a letter to the border fortresses now and ask them to strengthen their defenses and send generals over, we will still be able to make it in time."

"But Wu's timing is when the Wei and Jin start a war. They will definitely take advantage of the battle of Yecheng to send troops to stab us in the back."

"But they probably didn't expect that the battle of Yecheng would end so quickly."

"Perhaps they have already dispatched troops. If we can take advantage of the time difference in the transmission of information, we may be able to inflict great losses on them."

(End of this chapter)