Rejuvenation of the Han Dynasty in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 372 Flooded Shouchun
Days of heavy rain stopped Cao Jun's offensive. Tao Qian was thankful that God helped Yangzhou. If not, one day, Shouchun would fall, his life would be in danger, and the people would also be slaughtered.

He originally wanted to secretly support Que Xuan and let him deal with Zuo Rong, collect the money and food from Futu Temple, and then get rid of Que Xuan and annex his troops. Unexpectedly, he killed Cao Song in the rebellion, offending Cao Cao, and he couldn't help but regret it.

But the matter was at this point, and it was irreversible. Sun Jian had already crossed the river and headed north. He only had to wait for the weather to improve before he could rush to Shouchun.

Two days later, the defenders suddenly came to report that Cao's soldiers were retreating. Tao Qian was so excited that he went to the city in the rain to see it. Sure enough, all Cao's soldiers had left camp. Tao Qian couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

All the soldiers were happy, Cao Hong said with a smile: "God helped us, Cao Cao retreated, just to let Sun Jian quickly support, otherwise he will attack again after the weather clears, and we will be in crisis again."

Tao Qian sighed: "Shouchun is next to Xiapi, so it is not a place to be governed. After the weather clears, I will move to Yuzhang and hand over Jiujiang County to Sun Jian. This man is good at using troops and is enough to keep Yangzhou."

Cao Hong said worriedly: "Sun Jian is a fierce tiger in the east of the Yangtze River. The lord of the government will give Shouchun to him. This person will own the land of the three counties. I am afraid that the tail will not be lost, and it will be difficult to control."

Tao Qian said with a helpless smile: "Sun Wentai is a hero today. In the past, Dong Zhuo was most afraid of him. He is the only one who can be the hero Cao Cao. I am old and intend to give Yangzhou to him. I only want to protect my old age and raise my children well." Yea!"

Cao Hong said: "Since the lord of the government has this intention, why didn't you order Sun Jian to come here earlier. Now that Shouchun is full of dangers, Cao Cao will definitely send troops to come again after the rain. If Sun Jian hears that the lord of the government has let the virtuous, he will definitely go north in the rain."

Tao Qian thought so, and immediately wrote a letter to invite someone to invite Sun Jian. As long as Sun Jian arrived in Shouchun, he would give up Yangzhou Mu and take his family to Jiangdong to avoid chaos.

The enemy retreated and decided to give way, Tao Qiandun felt relaxed, even the pain was relieved a lot, he returned to the mansion to rest, no longer tossing and turning like before, he was able to sleep peacefully at that time.

This time I slept until midnight, and just woke up in a daze, feeling hungry, ordered someone to cook porridge and prepare meals, before I got up, I suddenly heard a noise outside the door.

"Your Majesty, something is wrong, quickly retreat with me!" Cao Hong's anxious voice sounded outside the door.

Tao Qian was shocked, got up quickly and went to the ground, opened the door and asked, "What happened?"

Cao Hong looked anxious, pointed to the outside and shouted: "The big thing is not good, Shouchun, Shouchun is flooded, Fu Jun, follow me quickly, otherwise it will be too late."

"How could this be?" Tao Qian was shocked when he heard the words, and grabbed Cao Hong's arm, "The Huai River has not flooded for several years, and the reinforcements are coming, how can we retreat? Hurry up and order people to fill the river."

"It's too late!" Cao Hong ran to the bed, found some clothes and draped them on Tao Qian indiscriminately, and said loudly, "The water is flooding and completely submerged the moat. I think someone must have done it on purpose. I'm afraid Cao Bing dug the river channel." !"

"Ah?" Tao Qian turned pale, took two steps back, shook his head and said, "This... Cao Mengde, how dare you do such a heartless thing?"

Seeing the urgency of the situation, Cao Hong hurriedly ordered the soldiers outside to prepare chariots and horses, helped Tao Qian get dressed, and hurried out.

Walking out of the mansion, he saw that the street was knee-deep in water, and the flood was rushing in all directions, like a beast attacking. Cao Hong helped Tao Qian mount his horse, and everyone protected his family and fled to the south gate.

At this time, all the defenders and civilians rushed towards the south gate. In the past, when Shouchun was flooded, it was slightly higher in the south. They fled from this side, and everyone retreated in a hurry.

Most of the people couldn't bear to leave their homes, and they all hid at home, and some of them had already climbed onto the roofs of their houses. The sound of crying and shouting in the city sounded particularly desolate amidst the sound of rain.

Tao Qian, wearing a raincoat and surrounded by his own soldiers, rushed out of Shouchun City and fled southward in a hurry.

A flash of lightning flashed, and Tao Qian turned his head to look at Shouchun City, only to see the raging flood everywhere. He looked up to the sky and roared, "Cao Cao, you are so devoid of conscience, you will not die well. I am ashamed of the people of Shouchun—"

Rumbling--

A muffled thunder sounded from the distant sky, cold icy rain slapped Tao Qian's face indiscriminately, and the world fell into darkness again.

The heavy rain gradually subsided in the middle of the night. At dawn, Shouchun City was plunged into a vast ocean, half of the city gates were submerged in the flood, and the people hid on the city wall, crying and howling.

Cao Cao took Xiahoudun, Le Jin and others back and forth. Looking at the island-like Shouchun City from a high mountain in the distance, his face was as gloomy as the sky.

Xiahou Dun said helplessly: "The river embankment was damaged and it slumped thousands of miles away. It can't be filled at all. We can only wait for the weather to clear up and then repair it slowly."

Le Jin frowned, and said: "Water and fire are the most ruthless, and they have suffered the people in the city."

Cao Cao sighed: "The embankment of a thousand miles collapsed in an ant nest, let alone did it intentionally? After taking Shouchun, half of the money and food in the city was used to build river embankments and save the people."

"Obey!" Xiahou Dun shook his head. He had never seen such a huge force of water, and he never thought that once the embankment was dug, it would be out of control, and more than 200 soldiers were involved in the torrent.

Everyone waited until noon, and the flood around Shouchun gradually dissipated. However, the road outside the city was silted up with mud and sand, making it impossible for vehicles and horses to pass through. Cao Cao had to order soldiers to clear the road.

Not long after, Cao Hong and Cao Ang led the soldiers back, and the soldiers were all drenched. Cao Ang held a human head in his hand, with a gray beard and hair, and the wound had already turned white from the rain. It was Tao Qian.

Cao Cao got off his horse and knelt down to the north, crying for a while, then ordered Cao Ang to take Tao Qian's head to Futu Temple and burn it in the hall to comfort Cao Song's spirit in heaven.

Cao Hong took out a large seal from his robe and said happily: "My Lord, this is the seal and ribbon of Yangzhou Mu."

"Old thief Tao Qian, he didn't forget to take the seal when he was dying!" Cao Cao took the seal and held it up high, with tears still on his face, and suddenly laughed again: "When someone takes Yangzhou and revitalizes the Han Dynasty, Guangzong Yaozu, my father will definitely smile under the nine springs."

After Cao Ang saw that the soldiers had cleared the way, they took their weapons and went to open the gate of the city. The people in the city were terrified, and some shouted loudly and even threw stones down the city.

He hurriedly said to Cao Cao: "Father, the people's resentment is all out of fear. Now that Tao Qian has been punished, the great hatred has been avenged. Please forgive the people in the city. In the future, we need to rely on them to complete the governance of Shouchun."

"What my son said is true!" Cao Cao nodded and said, "I ordered Yuan to repair the embankment to rescue the victims, and quickly sent people to persuade the people to surrender. I will not pursue the matter of Yangzhou."

Cao Ang immediately led people to shout around the city, summoning the people and officials in the city to surrender. Tao Qian is dead, and he will no longer investigate the faults of the people. Please clean up the river and protect Shouchun.

The common people were only afraid of Cao Cao's killing, heard that they would not pursue the past, and thought about the importance of settling down, they immediately gave up resistance and went down to the city to dredge the river and protect the things in their homes.

Holding the Yangzhou seal in his hand, Cao Cao took a deep breath until this time, and was about to enter the city. Suddenly, a flying horse came to report from a distance. Cao Xiu led his troops to clear the Quexuan thief nest. Went to the cottage.

Cao Cao was taken aback, and the seal in his hand fell into the mud on the ground with a bang.

(End of this chapter)