Three Kingdoms New Emperor

Chapter 465 Cao Cao's Poor New Year's Eve

The New Year of the second year of Xingping was definitely the worst New Year for Cao Cao.

Before arriving at the Xiahoudun camp in the outer suburbs of Puyang, Cao Cao saw starved people everywhere, burned houses, dilapidated city walls, and barren fields.Puyang County, which he relied on as the prefectural government, has been completely empty, just like Luoyang where Dong Zhuo's Xiliang iron cavalry was once a disaster, and like the Xuzhou counties that he slaughtered last year, it has completely become a dead zone with no people in it.

What makes Cao Cao feel the unbearable weight of life is that he doesn't have many plays yet.

After all, the paper could not contain the fire, although Cao Cao returned to Yanzhou from Xuzhou safely, pretending to return with a small victory.But none of the soldiers were blind, and they saw the upheaval of Yanzhou with their own eyes.The imperial edict of the Han Dynasty could no longer be concealed. For a while, Yanzhou soldiers fled one after another and never looked back.

At this time, Cao Cao truly showed his iron-blooded and real man's side. In order to avoid the mutiny caused by tough suppression, he immediately issued a military order to dismiss the army.At the end of Xiahou Dun's camp, there were only less than 1 Qingzhou soldiers left around him.

As a result, Cao Cao's power fell from the peak to the bottom in an instant. There were a total of [-] counties in the eight counties of Yanzhou, and only Juancheng, Fanxian, and Dong'e were left in his hands.Thanks to Xun Yu's persistence in Juancheng, Dong'a and Fan County were kept by Cheng Li and Xue Ti. Without the careful planning of these people, Cao Cao's withdrawal would really be homeless.

Later, in order to stabilize the morale of the army, he had to fight head-to-head with Lu Bu twice under the condition of low morale and lack of food and grass. One of them was caught by Chen Gong's insight into his intention to fight big with danger, and he was beaten into a panic .At this moment, Cao Cao finally realized that the Lu Bu he was facing now was no longer the courageous and intrepid Zhonglang general in Chang'an City, but a prince with the righteousness of the Han Dynasty and his advisers like rain .

As night fell, a bonfire was being lit in a dark forest outside Puyang. Although the fire was very bright, it was not burning very vigorously.

The surroundings were completely silent, and the bonfire reflected Cao Cao's face red. He was carefully building a wooden frame from the raw branches he picked, and gently placed it on the bonfire. In a wooden basin, there are two hares that have been stripped clean and their internal organs have been emptied.

Cao Cao put some salt on the hare very carefully, passed a wooden stick through the hare and put it on the wooden frame, let the campfire slowly smoke and roast.

The remaining one was also cooked in the same way, except that the wooden sticks were strung together and inserted closer to the flame. With the sound of crackling, the roasted rabbit exudes a strong aroma.

After finishing all this, he sat down with satisfaction, smelling the aroma of barbecue in the wind, salivating.Then he watched the only half bowl of wine in the bowl reflect the light of the fire, shimmering and flickering.At this time, Cao Cao's unrestrained appearance is very different from the majestic commander in the Bairi army tent, but he does not have a willful and unrestrained freedom.

However, the entanglement in not pouring the wine into his stomach after lifting the bowl several times really revealed his embarrassment at the moment.Fortunately, the arrival of one person solved Cao Cao's urgent need.

"My lord, are you so lonely because there is no one to drink to?" Of course Guo Jia knew why Cao Cao was reluctant to drink the wine in the bowl, so when he said these words, he deliberately poured out the half jug of wine in his own jug. Shaking it so that Cao Cao could hear the rattling sound.

Cao Cao laughed immediately, and said bluntly: "I am only reluctant to drink because I have no alcohol to relieve my worries after drinking this bowl of wine. Now that you are here, I can drink at ease. Come on, Feng Xiao, this year's New Year's Eve, you and I will get drunk together!"

"Getting drunk is nothing but a blessing in life, how can it be compared to conspiring with the world?" Guo Jia smiled and said leisurely: "After tonight, I'm going to leave. I'm very lucky to have my master practice it for Jia. Yan."

Cao Cao didn't say anything, just looked leisurely into the distance.He knew that Puyang City was located more than 110 miles away from this place.The army camped on the east bank of the Huzi River, and Lu Bu's camp was on the small plain on the west bank of the Huzi River, echoing Zhang Liao's camp in the southeast of Puyang.

The two armies have fought fiercely for months, and the blood has dyed the dry riverbed of the Huzi River red.Until more than two months after the truce, Cao Cao still seemed to be able to smell the faint smell of blood.Thinking of this, Cao Cao couldn't help sighing: "I miss Cao Cao, I still have today. I hope that Lu Fengxian is already intoxicated with power, otherwise Feng Xiao's departure this time will be really bad luck."

Guo Jia, on the other hand, smiled indifferently: "Although Lu Bu is a world-class hero, he went away without hesitation. Chen Gong was a seasoned planner, but he was a bit slow in wisdom. If they were enemies like me before, they would still be sincere and consistent, but after winter , the two armies ceased fighting, and this time the dispute in Puyang City may have emerged. Jia went to stab the heart, if this plan succeeds, it will not be difficult to regain Yanzhou after losing it."

Cao Cao sighed again, and replied, "If there were only the two of them, we wouldn't be stuck here. It's just those people from the Han army..."

Hearing Cao Cao talk about the Han army, Guo Jia's handsome face couldn't help but a trace of worry.Unlike history, Cao Cao's current situation is actually worse.

Xun You has led the army of Yingchuan, Yuzhou, and surrounded Juancheng heavily.No matter how resourceful and resourceful Xun Yu was, he couldn't bear to confront Yingchuan's old man with swords.Jia Xu also led Tai Shici, Liu Pi, Zhou Cang and others to besiege Fan County, but they also besieged but did not attack.Although it was also because of the cold weather that it was not suitable for large-scale warfare, Cao Cao and Guo Jia had already seen that the Han army wanted to contain their own army in this way, so that Lu Bu's Puyang army could give it a go.

With these two armies lying still, there is much that can be done.What's more, there was a Liu Xie squatting there in Xuzhou, which made Cao Cao almost surrounded.

The hares on the bonfire were ready to eat, but neither Guo Jia nor Cao Cao had any appetite.At this moment, Bi Chen also found Cao Cao, and bowed to the ground without saying a word, which confused Cao Cao who was already worried.

"Your envoy, since you entered Yanzhou, you have treated me well, so Chen and everyone will work together to wait for your return." Bi Chen, who was supported by Cao Cao, did not get up, and kowtowed respectfully to Cao Cao .

"Mr. Bi has worked hard. Mr. Cao has seen everything you have done, so please speak slowly."

Bi Chen looked up at Cao Cao, seemed to have struggled in his heart for a long time, but finally said: "Your Majesty, please allow me to leave."

"Eh?" Cao Cao never thought that Bi Chen would say such a thing, and he couldn't help being surprised: "Mr. Bi, does he not want to help me stabilize the world?"

Bi Chen kowtowed again: "It's not because I dare to assist the envoy, but... my family is in Dongping, and my mother was kidnapped by the rebels, so I have to go. Now that the army is stable, I will stay here The place is also useless, I implore you to put the king down and go back to fulfill your filial piety."

Cao Cao couldn't help feeling a burst of fear, and what he was worried about finally happened.Zhizhong and Biejia are the right-hand men of the governor of the prefecture to handle government affairs. Zhizhong Wanqian was already annoyed when he gave way to Cao Cao's execution. Bi Chen also left his position this time. The titular state shepherd.

Moreover, he knew very well that if Bi Chen's abilities were brought under Lv Bu's tent, he would definitely add another arm to Lv Buping.What's even more frightening is that almost half of the generals and advisers under him are natives of Yanzhou. If everyone has a hostage and falls into the enemy's hands, then he will really be finished.

Therefore, this sign must be tolerated!
But for some reason, when Cao Cao touched the Yitian Sword at his waist, he suddenly saw Guo Jia who was drinking silently.Under the light of the fire, Guo Jia seemed to have not seen the incident at all, but Cao Cao suddenly moved, and helped Bi Chen again and said, "Since ancient times, loyalty and filial piety cannot be combined. Since Bi Gong has the wish of Da Shun to plow the fields and Huang Xiang to sit in the seat, Cao will not force you to stay."

"Your kindness is as great as a mountain, and I will go here only for my mother, and I swear that I will not protect the rebels." Bi Chen kowtowed for the third time: "My mother is under the control of the enemy, and I will suffer day and night. I really can't delay, so don't let it go. !” After saying that, he got up and wanted to leave.

"Wait a minute!" Cao Cao suddenly stopped him again.

Bi Chen trembled, his face was miserable, but he could only turn his head to test: "What does your envoy mean?"

Cao Cao sighed: "I got a lot of property from Xuzhou. Mr. Bi can take some at will. I have seen Lingtang to greet her on my behalf."

Bi Chen blushed: "A man who abandons his master dares to ask for money and goods again, and I have no face to accept it again, so let's go." Hearing Cao Cao's words, Bi Chen couldn't help crying, turned his head three times, and walked slowly out.

Guo Jia watched the scene silently, without saying anything about Cao Cao's skill in controlling people or his kind heart, raised his eyebrows lightly, and said lightly, "My lord, with this matter in front of you, are you still worried that you shouldn't go?"

Cao Cao immediately understood Guo Jia's meaning, but after all he couldn't let go of the Han army's heart disease.Just at this time, suddenly a soldier came to report: "Let's report to the general, there is an envoy from the general in chariots!"

(End of this chapter)