Xiaoqi

"These two are really so powerful?" Cao Cao was surprised when he heard the sound, and immediately turned to look at Cao Chun behind him.

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Chapter 056 A Sudden Change

"Brothers Lu are really so powerful?" Cao Cao was surprised when he heard the voice, and immediately turned his head to look at Cao Chun behind him, only to see him nodding slightly, agreeing with Li Li's opinion.

Seeing this, Cao Cao asked Cao Chun in a low voice: "From Zihe's point of view, who in the army can defeat the Lu brothers?"

"My brother (Cao Ren) will do." Cao Chun answered.

Immediately, he said with a distressed face: "Of course, my brother is the chief general in the army, and it is not appropriate to rush into battle, so I implore my lord to let the last general fight."

"This,,, Zihe and I will go to the front of the battle together." Cao Cao nodded after a little hesitation.After speaking, he turned his head to look at Li Li beside him, hoping that he would allow him to return to the formation.

Li Li nodded in agreement, and Cao Cao immediately bowed his hands in obeisance, and then he and Cao Chun led the five thousand tiger and leopard riders who were always around and went straight to the south gate.

Watching Cao Cao lead the troops away, Li Li's eyelids twitched for no reason, feeling a little uneasy in his heart, and an indescribable sense of crisis welled up in his heart.However, when he tried to capture this crisis and trace its source, this strange premonition disappeared without a trace, elusive, clueless, as if it had never appeared before, or it appeared in a trance. The illusion of passing away.

At this moment, Li Li looked at the back of Cao Cao who was drifting away, with a stern expression, and a strong murderous intent appeared in his eyes.Although he did not capture where this unspeakable sense of crisis came from, Cao Cao, who was leading his army back to the front line, was undoubtedly the source of the ominous premonition.Therefore, Li Li made up his mind to wait for an opportunity to get rid of Cao Cao from this moment, so as to avoid future troubles.

Guo Jia, who reined in his horse and stood beside Li Li, was keenly aware of the abnormal demeanor of the protagonist Li Li.Seeing him gazing coldly at Cao Cao who was gradually going away, he immediately understood.

Immediately Guo Jia rode his horse close to Li Li, and said in a low voice: "My lord has always been a thorn in my side of this person. I have tried to get rid of him several times and then quickly. If you want to get rid of this person, this time is an excellent opportunity. During the alliance, the lord can eradicate him in one fell swoop, once this opportunity is missed, I am afraid that it will be difficult to get rid of him in the future?"

Guo Jia has followed Li Li for many years, and he can guess his general intentions just by looking at Li Li's expression, and this moment is no exception.Seeing that Li Li has murderous intentions towards Cao Cao.Guo Jia advised Li Li at the right time, not to hesitate any longer, but to make up his mind as soon as possible.Otherwise, it will change later.Therefore, Guo Jia's words are tantamount to encouraging Li Li to kill Cao Cao, so as to get rid of this serious trouble.

Li Li's face changed slightly after hearing the sound, and he looked up at Yecheng towering in front of him, and said solemnly: "What Feng Xiao said. I don't know. Why don't I want to take this opportunity to get rid of him. However, Feng Xiao You should know that the city in front of you is different from Shouchun City, and Yuan Shao's current strength is far from that of Huainan Yuan Shu. According to detailed investigation reports, so far, Yuan Shao still has no less than 20 soldiers and horses, including 16 infantry and cavalry [-]. In addition, Yuan Shao has occupied Jizhou for many years. The foundation is solid, and the administration is lenient. He is deeply loved by the people of Jizhou and the support of the aristocratic family. This is the biggest obstacle we face in this crusade against Yuan Shao, which seems insufficient For consideration, it is actually related to the overall situation and is extremely critical.”

Speaking of this, Li Li sighed softly: "Oh! The reason why I was reluctant to lead the army to attack Jizhou before is precisely because the Yuan family has been operating in Jizhou for many years. It has a deep foundation and great influence, which is unmatched by all princes in the world. The one on the right is like a big tree with deep roots and intertwined roots. No matter which princes want to occupy Jizhou, it is almost impossible to uproot it. Therefore, I sent it to the south after Yuan Shu and tried to use Cao Cao I broke through Yecheng with my hands and killed the Yuan family, and then I, Li Li, came forward to clean up the mess, and then took Jizhou into my pocket.

Until now, everything is going as I expected, but I have a vague feeling that everything seems to be going too smoothly.With the scheming of Cao Cao in Yanzhou, it is impossible for him not to think that we are using him to weaken his military strength by attacking Yecheng, and prepare for his annihilation after the war.However, he knew our true intentions, but he still ignored it and repeatedly dispatched troops to attack Yecheng.Why did he do this, what is his purpose?Did he, Cao Cao, become stupid, or did he keep me in the dark? "

Guo Jia was stunned and said hesitantly: "Since my lord is so suspicious of him, why not get rid of him now? With the strength of our army right now, even without the help of Cao Cao's soldiers and horses, we can capture Yecheng, capture Yuan Shao, and recover Jizhou! "Obviously, Guo Jia firmly believes that the Xiliang army is fully capable of recovering Jizhou, and there is no need to join forces with Cao Cao.

Li Li shook his head lightly, and said slowly while meditating: "Yes, my Xiliang army has hundreds of thousands of troops, and its strength is far superior to that of the princes of other towns. Speaking of Yuan Shao in Jizhou, even if Cao Cao in Yanzhou joins forces with our Xiliang army, I am not afraid. But Feng Xiaoke once thought that although our army has many troops and horses and strong combat power, the battle line is too long and invisible Centralization has greatly weakened the overall strength of our army. At present, the borders of Liaodong, Youzhou, Shuozhou, Western Regions, Hanzhong and Huainan all need to gather heavy troops to ensure a stable and stable situation. Once these troops are transferred, the states and counties It will be turbulent and unstable, and even the rear will be in chaos, which will shake the foundation of our Xiliang army. This is one of them.

Second, right now we are besieging Jizhou on all sides, occupying an absolute advantage, with twice as many troops as Yuan Shao.However, once Cao Cao turned to Yuan Shao, the current situation would be reversed instantly.At that time, Yuan Shao and Cao Cao's soldiers and horses will join forces, and their strength will reach 40, while the combined forces of our army's three routes will be less than 30.In this way, this decisive battle that will determine the fate of the Central Plains is extremely unfavorable to our army. The outcome is unpredictable, and the result is not optimistic.

If our army is defeated, the excellent opportunity to occupy the Central Plains will be gone, and all the efforts we have made before will be wiped out.The best result after the war is that our army retreats to the south of the Yellow River, and the vast territory north of the Yellow River will all fall into Yuan Shao's hands. Even Youzhou and Bingzhou are in danger, and they are always threatened by a large army.

In other words, if our army wants to wipe out the two forces of Yuan Shao and Cao Cao in one fell swoop, we must mobilize more than [-]% of our troops and concentrate all our efforts on one battle, so that we have a [-]% chance of winning. "Guo Jia looked pensive when he heard the words, and then nodded slightly, deeply agreeing with Li Li's words.

After a pause, Li Li looked at Guo Jia's expression, and then said: "In view of this, I have been thinking about the current situation recently, and I don't ask Cao Cao to unite with us to fight against Yuan Shao, as long as he doesn't lead his army to fall against Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao, that is the greatest help to our army. Therefore, Cao Cao has been by my side recently. I have many opportunities and countless ways to get rid of him, but in order to take into account the overall situation and the current situation, after careful consideration, I finally decided not to Attack him. The reason is very simple. Killing Cao Cao at this time is tantamount to helping Yuan Shao out of the siege. Not only that, he can also reap the benefits of being a fisherman, and easily take all the soldiers and horses under Cao Cao's tent into his command.

"Don't think that this kind of situation will not happen. On the contrary, after Cao Cao's death, his soldiers and horses will definitely defect to Yuan Shao and vow to fight our army to the death. Because the army under Cao Cao's command is completely different from the soldiers and horses of other princes. The generals in command are all members of the Cao clan. Generals such as Cao Ren, Cao Chun, Cao Hong, Cao Zhen, Cao Xiu, and Le Jin are all Cao Cao’s direct followers. Unless they are driven to a dead end, they will never serve me. So alas, It is easy to kill Cao Cao, but it is not easy to recruit his soldiers and horses, it is almost impossible. Instead of this, it is better to let him go temporarily, and go to the district after Yuan Shao is destroyed." Li Li said these words It's really emotional.

Historically, the reason why Cao Cao was able to survive repeated catastrophes was that most of the main generals who followed him came from the Cao family and the Xiahou family.This is a group of hard-core followers, connected by blood, and their future and destiny are closely linked.From this, I have to admit that in the early days of fighting with Cao Cao, Xiahou's family and Cao's family were indeed warriors one after another, and any one who was pulled out was a general.After the fierce battle in Chibi, the reason why Sun Quan and Liu Bei did not dare to kill Cao Cao was definitely not to save the people of the world from suffering. The real reason was that after Cao Cao died, the Cao clan would fight back at all costs, so that the front foot After killing Cao Cao, he will step into Cao Cao's footsteps, and he will not be able to protect himself.

It is precisely because of this that Cao Cao was able to fight repeatedly and finally occupy the Central Plains, laying a solid foundation for the later Cao Wei Jiangshan.

However, there are pros and cons in the world.It is precisely because Cao Wei's country is built on the basis of the bloody struggle of Cao's relatives and nobles, that later Cao's children can get something for nothing, and always control the power of the world's soldiers and horses, which greatly suppresses the career promotion and future development of rising stars.

So when the first batch of cronies and generals who followed Cao Cao to fight in the country passed away one after another, Cao's relatives and nobles withered, and when the younger generations were mediocre but held high positions, Cao Wei's country was also on the verge of collapse.After Sima Yi, a foreign surname, took charge of the army, the generals who had been suppressed by the Cao clan voted under the Sima clan one after another, causing the Sima clan to easily replace Cao Wei and seize the fruits of victory that the four generations of the Cao family had worked hard for a hundred years. Jin, to rule the world.

This is the inevitable result of nepotism, and it is also the decisive factor for the final demise of Cao Wei Jiangshan.

However, time and space are turning, and the current situation of relying on the children of the family to conquer the world is extremely beneficial to Cao Cao.Li Li could have easily eliminated Cao Cao, but he was quite scrupulous about the children of Cao Cao's family. He worried that after eliminating Cao Cao, the leaderless Cao army would inevitably be driven to seek refuge with Yuan Shao, which would completely change the entire battle situation.This was a situation Li Li didn't want to see, and it was also the key reason why he couldn't make up his mind to get rid of Cao Cao as soon as possible.

Unexpectedly, the sudden sense of crisis just now prompted Li Li to change his mind, making him keenly aware of the threat from Cao Cao.But this impromptu decision will definitely disrupt all previous plans, so he needs to think about it now and weigh the pros and cons.He would not reveal a word to anyone before he had thought it through, even Guo Jia was no exception.

Chapter 057

Spring is in full swing, the garden is full of green grass, red flowers and green leaves complement each other.

There are dancing butterflies wandering among the flowers, buzzing bees hiding in the stamens, and two chubby and pink children chasing the butterflies, chasing and playing in the garden.Together with the flowers and plants in the garden, they enjoy the gift of nature, enjoy the warm spring sun, and enjoy the peace behind the flames of war.

In the corner sheltered from the wind on the east side of the courtyard, a canopy covered the warm sunshine, and dozens of people on both sides stood up to block the breeze and the smell of blood blowing with the wind.Surrounded by the crowd, the white-bearded and gray-headed Yuan Shao leaned back on a large and comfortable soft chair. Through the gap deliberately left by the crowd in front of him, he stared intently at the two grandchildren who were chasing and fighting not far away, with special eyes. Loving and peaceful.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Just as he was engrossed in watching, his throat felt uncomfortable, and a strange flush appeared on his pale and stiff cheeks.At this time, the eunuch who was serving at the side wanted to step forward to help him beat his back, but Yuan Shao waved his hand to stop him, and then saw him covering his mouth and coughing lightly, trying to suppress the sound, as if he was afraid that the cough would disturb the two playful children and affect them Playful mood.

In fact, the two children are only three years old, and they often laugh and cry. They are completely unaware of the great pain their grandfather is suffering at the moment, and even hearing coughing does not affect their playful mood.Children are young and ignorant, it is completely forgivable, but Yuan Shao understands this, so he doesn't want the children to see him at this moment, so as not to frighten the children, and he doesn't want to disturb the children's playfulness because of his illness and cough. Spring should belong to them.

besides.Yuan Shao has been keeping his two grandchildren in the back garden recently. Although he never shows up in front of the children, he always wants to hear their clear and loud voices.Whether it is crying or laughing, it is so sweet and intoxicating.Another purpose of letting the children stay in the backyard is that they don't want them to hear the siege shouts outside the city and the smell of blood in the air.No matter what happens outside the city, it has nothing to do with the kids.

This is Yuan Shao's last wish, and also a good wish for his two grandchildren.He didn't expect that in the last days of his life, he would be able to enjoy the family happiness of giving birth to his grandchildren.But I hope that my two grandchildren can grow up healthy and happy, free from the suffering of war, and not be implicated by myself and their father.I hope that the upcoming fights and disputes will not affect them.Because they are still two or three-year-old children, they are truly innocent and should not bear the disasters brought about by their grandparents and parents.

However, Yuan Shao knew very well in his heart that these two children would be harmed innocently after all.Because they were born in the Yuan family of four generations and three fathers.Now it is the descendant of the prince of the Yuan Dynasty.This is fate, one is born rich, but one has to bear all the disputes after being rich.Just like Yuan Shao himself, he was born in a famous family, and he was once ambitious and tried to get his hands on the country.Now that all of this has been realized, it is a flash in the eye, and there is a bottomless abyss behind King's Landing.

nowadays.The Yuan family in Jizhou was forced to the edge of the cliff.To take a step forward is to hand over the inheritance created by our ancestors to others; to take a step back.Or fall into the bottomless abyss, causing disasters to the whole family. None of the more than a thousand people in the whole family was spared, and they all turned into dust.

At the moment, whether to retreat or advance is in the hands of the dying Yuan Shao.Faced with a dilemma, it is really difficult to take this step. The inner struggle and suffering are beyond the comprehension of outsiders.But Yuan Shao has endured this unspeakable pain for nearly a year, and it is this inseparable fetter that has supported him to live until now.

The obsession is immortal, and the vitality is endless.How can I rest in peace if my wish is not fulfilled?

The footsteps of "嗵嗵" came to Yuan Shao's ears with his eyes closed and rested. Although the person hadn't approached yet, Yuan Shao could hear the identity of the person from the sound. The footsteps were hurried and disorderly, showing his impatience and inner anxiety.

Immediately, Yuan Shao secretly sighed: "When things happen, you are flustered, your mind is confused, and your thoughts are mixed. How can such a mind achieve anything? Tan'er is still not calm enough after all. I, Yuan Shao, have no successors!"

"Father,,, oh, no, the child sees the father!" Just as Yuan Shao expected, it was his eldest son Yuan Tan and Yuan Xiansi who hurried over.Perhaps it was because his father, Yuan Shao, proclaimed himself emperor for too short a time, so he was not used to changing his words for a while.

Yuan Shao slowly opened his eyes, glanced lightly at Yuan Tan, and said in a low voice: "There is no need to change your words, after tomorrow you will be a father and you will not be an emperor."

"Father, why did you say that? You are stupid, and you will correct it in the future. Please forgive me." Yuan Tan was shocked when he heard the sound, and mistakenly thought that his father was angry because of his clumsy speech, and immediately knelt down and apologized.But he didn't notice at all that there was something in Yuan Shao's words, and his intentions were completely irrelevant to what Yuan Tan said.

After Yuan Shao heard the words, there was an indescribable disappointment in his eyes, and he slowly closed his eyes, leaned on the soft chair and opened his mouth to inhale. It seemed that he was short of breath due to chest tightness, and he needed to calm down and calm himself down.

Yuan Tan didn't know what was going on in his father's mind, so he felt uncomfortable in his chest, and immediately reported respectfully: "Cao Jun lost more than two thousand soldiers in today's attack on the city, and our army suffered more than one thousand casualties. Just now Zhang He The general sent someone to report that as of today, Cao's army has been attacking the city for [-] consecutive days, most of the [-] soldiers and horses have been lost, and there are only more than [-] men left. However, Cao's army has not yet retreated. After the truce in the evening, the enemy general Cao Ren He still ordered the soldiers to repair the siege weapons, and it seems that he intends to continue to attack the city tomorrow." This is what Yuan Tan has done every day since Li Lili's army besieged Yecheng, and he has to report the battle situation to his father Yuan Shao every evening. The more detailed the better.

At first, Yuan Tan had to go to the city tower to check the battle situation in person every day, and then came back to report.But with the passage of time, after a long delay, he no longer did it himself, but ordered the guard Zhang Xi to send people back every day to report the battle situation, and then he relayed it to Yuan Shao.Yuan Shao was well aware of this, but he didn't criticize him, as if he didn't mind the matter.This is Yuan Tan's idea.

After speaking, Yuan Tan walked lightly to Yuan Shao's side. After warming his hands, he began to knead his father's shoulders. The movements were very skillful, as if he had done it many times before, as if practice makes perfect.And this may be the main reason why Yuan Shao has kept him by his side in recent years.

Maybe Yuan Tan is indeed not a smart and wise person, immature in mind, and not prudent in doing things, but he is a filial son who values ​​filial piety.This is especially important for parents.After entering old age, what parents value is whether their children are filial, not how smart their children are.Filial piety has nothing to do with being smart or not.

"After half a month of siege, only 8000 of the [-] army remained. This kind of thing may only be done by Cao Mengde." After a long silence, Yuan Shao finally spoke.But when these words fell into Yuan Tan's ears, he was suddenly baffled.

After a pause, Yuan Shao didn't turn his head, but he already guessed that his son must not understand.In the past, Yuan Shao would not explain even if he knew he could not understand, but today is different from the past.There are some things that should be told to Yuan Tan, otherwise, if we don’t talk about it now, I’m afraid we won’t have the chance to talk about it in a few days.

"Xiansi should know that my father and Cao Mengde have known each other for more than 30 years. Before Dong Zhuo led the army into Luoyang, my father and him were like brothers, and we did many ridiculous things together when we were young. I am afraid that God is like Mengde. There is no one who understands him better than Weifu. He is a man of tenacity, deep in the city, decisive in doing things, and ruthless. For a long time, Weifu did not think that he was inferior to him, and even for a long time, Weifu I despise him very much. This is not only because he is an eunuch, but also because he is a person who does whatever it takes to achieve his goals, which makes my father deeply ashamed.

Just like the scene you see now, in order to win the trust of Li Thief (Li Li), he did not hesitate to take the lives of [-] elite soldiers, but he himself did not even blink his eyes, and stayed with Li Thief all day Flattering, chatting and laughing.This move is definitely impossible and impossible for a father, but he, Cao Mengde, can do it without revealing any flaws.Therefore, to this day, as a father, I have to admit that I am not as good as Cao Mengde in the troubled times! "

After Yuan Tan heard the words, his face turned pale, his cheeks were extremely distorted, and his expression was ferocious, so that the hands that were rubbing Yuan Shao's shoulders were clenched tightly, and his joints creaked.He originally thought that what he heard were all rumors, how could there be such a thing as handing over his family's fortune to others?It's a pity that nothing came of it, the thing he was most worried about happened after all.

After struggling violently for a while, Yuan Tan took a deep breath, finally calmed down and forced himself to calm down.Then he pretended to be ignorant and faltered and said: "This child is stupid, I don't know what father means by this?"

After Yuan Shao heard the sound, he grasped the handle of the soft chair with both arms, turned his head to look at Yuan Tan with great difficulty, and said earnestly: "Actually, you knew it a long time ago, but you always took chances and didn't want to admit it, let alone face it. I My father understands what my son is thinking, but you still don't know why my father did this."