Han officials

Chapter 291 Exclusive Blessing
Given that Cao Cao had already realized the scheme, Wei Zhe had no choice but to make corresponding changes.

After staring at the map with a furrowed brow for a moment, he decisively said:
"Issue my order: Lu Su is appointed magistrate of Huailing, temporarily in charge of Dongcheng and Gaoshan counties. Bu Zhi is appointed magistrate of Xu."

"Issue these two men to quickly recover Xucheng and Huailing counties and cut off Cao Cao's escape route to the south."

At this point, Wei Zhe paused slightly, then immediately added:

"Furthermore, send an order to Pengcheng, instructing Zhang Zhao to lead the troops of Pengcheng State and County to jointly attack Xiapi and capture the city as soon as possible."

As for Zhong Hu's side, Wei Zhe had no intention of interfering.

Now that things have progressed this far, it all depends on whether the Qingzhou garrison can hold off Cao Cao's army.

Upon hearing this, Xi Zhicai thought for a moment and immediately suggested:

"Why doesn't Your Excellency order General Heng Hai to continue westward along the Huai River?"

"If we can capture Zhongli County, the Huai River line will likely be much more secure."

Upon hearing this, Wei Zhe immediately felt it made sense, but he quickly frowned slightly and said:
Who is the current governor of Jiujiang?

Although Zhongli is on the border of Pei State, it is still within the territory of Jiujiang Commandery, which makes Wei Zhe think more deeply.

Xi Zhicai was fully aware of this and immediately explained:
"Two years ago, Liu Rong, the Prince of Langya, sent his younger brother Liu Miao to Chang'an to offer tribute. The emperor was pleased and appointed Liu Miao as the governor of Jiujiang Commandery and enfeoffed him as the Marquis of Yangdu. However, last year, Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, fell seriously ill. Yuan Gonglu took the opportunity to invade Yangzhou and sent his general Wu Jing to lead Sun Jian's former troops to kill Chen Wen and Liu Miao at Yinling, the capital of Yangzhou."

"Later, Yuan Gonglu appointed Hui Qu, a former official of the Yuan family, as the governor of Yangzhou, Chen Ji, a native of Danyang, as the prefect of Jiujiang, and Wu Jing as the prefect of Danyang, thus controlling the two prefectures of Danyang and Jiujiang."

"Yuan Gonglu is currently still staying in Zhipingyu, Runan County, and has not yet left Yuzhou."

In recent years, Yuan Shu has been aggressive and launched attacks everywhere, but he has basically gained nothing.

Attack Jingzhou? You've already lost Sun Jian!
Heading north to Yanzhou? They were repeatedly defeated by Liu Bei and Cao Cao.

His attempt to probe Xuzhou also failed, and Tao Qian remained very wary of him.

Having finally encountered the serious illness of Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, Yuan Shu naturally wouldn't miss this easy target.

However, Chen Wen, the governor of Yangzhou, was not a powerful political figure.

Compared to Tao Qian, the governor of Xuzhou, he could not even be considered a warlord of Guandong.

Because Chen Wen was still governing Yangzhou using the methods of the Taiping Prefect, he did not have the same level of control as Tao Qian.

It is precisely because of this that Chen Wen's death did not have a significant impact on the various counties of Yangzhou.

The various counties of Yangzhou were originally governed by their own governments, so they naturally wouldn't easily submit to Yuan Shu this time.

Yuan Shu appeared to have appointed a governor of Yangzhou, but in reality, he did not even control the entire Huainan region.

Even Danyang County, which was nominally under his control, was in a semi-independent state because of Sun Jian.

At present, the only part of Yangzhou that is truly under Yuan Shu's complete control is probably Jiujiang Commandery.

Once he figured out the crux of the matter, Wei Zhe couldn't help but frown.

However, he quickly put aside his concerns about offending Yuan Shu, since he had already sent Zhao Yan to the State of Chen.

Compared to the State of Chen, Zhongli County is really nothing.

“Then so be it!” Wei Zhe nodded and said, “Tell Mu Hua to take over Zhongli.”

After saying that, Wei Zhe suddenly couldn't help but laugh and tease:
"We really have to thank Yuan Gonglu this time. If he hadn't killed Chen Wen, who knows how much more trouble we would have caused!"

Upon hearing this, Xi Zhicai thought about it for a moment and nodded in deep agreement.

It is worth noting that Chen Wen and Cao Cao had a very good relationship. When the warlords of Guandong were attacking Dong Zhuo, Cao Cao went to Yangzhou to recruit soldiers because he had few troops. Chen Wen gave Cao Cao more than 4,000 soldiers.

If Chen Wen were still serving as the governor of Yangzhou, it would be impossible for Wei Zhe to kill Cao Cao.

……

Not to mention how chaotic things were in Xiapi.

With Wei Zhe employing a multi-pronged approach, the situation in Pei State finally began to change. A charming woman named Huan Xuan appeared in Wei Zhe's room.

The Huan clan in Zhixian County has also gained many unfamiliar relatives with the surname Huan.

Xiahou Yuan's troops were not without patrols, but the Huan family members were too adept at impersonating the Huan family members.

The identities of distant relatives don't even need to be made up; their generational rankings are already established in the family genealogy.

As a result, when the Wei army attacked Zhixian again, the north gate suddenly opened wide.

With just a slight oversight, Zhi County fell before Xiahou Yuan's despairing eyes.

As Xiahou Yuan walked around the city with his head stuck in a bamboo pole, Cheng Yu on the city wall of Qixian was also filled with resentment.

No matter how skillful he was this time, he couldn't stabilize the morale of the Qixian army.

Because Zhi County and Zhuyi were not only Cao Cao's escape route, but also theirs.

With the loss of these two places, Qixian County became like a rootless duckweed, losing contact with the rear.

Even if the city's food supplies could last for a while in this situation, once confidence is lost, it's gone forever.

Especially after learning that the Huan family of Longkang in the south had kidnapped Pei Xiang Shu Shao in order to surrender to the Wei army in Xiangxian and Longkang, the fear of the Cao army in Qixian spread uncontrollably.

To be honest, even Wei Zhe didn't expect the Huan clan of Longkang to submit so readily.

Xun You merely made a brief trip to Longkang, and he immediately gained control of both Xiang County and Longkang.

Afterwards, Wei Zhe asked Xun You and learned that Huan Dian, the patriarch of the Longkang Huan clan, had moved the capital to Chang'an with Dong Jun when he served as a censor in the court. During this time, he was repeatedly embroiled in turmoil, and Xun You had once saved him by chance.

To be precise, he saved Huan Dian's entire family.

After all, many officials mysteriously disappeared on the way from Luoyang to Chang'an.

Countless noble ladies moved between the camps of the Liangzhou army from then on.

After Dong Zhuo died, Huan Dian followed Xun You's advice and chose to resign and return to his hometown.

Although Huan Dian died of an epidemic not long after returning to his hometown, his son Huan Fan did not forget Xun You's kindness. When Xun You came to persuade Wei Zhe, Huan Fan agreed without even mentioning any conditions.

Furthermore, given that Huan Fan was a young man in charge of the household, he was somewhat impulsive, so it was understandable that he kidnapped people and surrendered the city.

Fortunately, Wei Zhe was a man of conscience; even though the young man forgot to quote a price, he didn't take advantage of him for free.

After receiving the letter of surrender, he immediately wrote a letter of appointment, recruiting Huan Fan as an advisor to serve by his side.

Originally, Wei Zhe only led 10,000 infantry and cavalry, but with the support of the local powerful clans of Pei State, the more he fought, the more troops he had under his command. Now he has more than 20,000 loyal followers at his disposal.

Although these people were of average combat strength, and most of them were young and strong farmers and soldiers, they were enough to be used for attacking cities.

So when Wei Zhe once again led his army to the city, the defending troops on the walls of Qixian County no longer had the same imposing manner as before.

When people's hearts are in turmoil, even the most fortified city cannot be defended.

As the army attacked the city again, the Wei army's vanguard had already occupied a corner of the city wall in less than half a day.

Cheng Yu never imagined that he would be trampled to death by a group of chaotic soldiers.

To be honest, when the fall of Qixian was a foregone conclusion, Cheng Yu did not actually intend to sacrifice himself for the cause.

Cheng Yu had even prepared himself mentally in advance, ready to respond to Wei Zhe's offer of surrender at any time.

However, the more efficient the iron-fisted methods were in defending the city, the more severe the backlash would be when the city fell.

Before Cheng Yu could return to the county temple and get into position, a cold arrow shot out from nowhere, causing him to fall to the ground. The fleeing soldiers following behind didn't care who was on the ground and swarmed towards the other city gate.

So by the time Wei Zhe led his troops into the city, Cheng Yu had already become a pile of minced meat at the execution ground, licked by hungry dogs.

Being eaten by vicious dogs after death might be considered a blessing in disguise for Cheng Yu...

(End of this chapter)