Cao Cao held a piece of cloth in his hand, and by the flickering candlelight, he had read it many times.
This is Liu Bei's letter of surrender, or in a certain sense, a letter of surrender. [bsp; Liu Bei, the governor of Youzhou in the Han Dynasty and general of the left, paid homage to Duke Cao, the prime minister of the Han Dynasty:
???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? The people of the world, whether wise or foolish, all know that this is impossible. Bei originally thought that the prime minister was fighting against Benchu, but he was just throwing an egg at a stone. Unexpectedly, in the two battles of Baima and Yanjin, Benchu ??lost his troops and generals. The soldiers of the Northern Army were all frightened and their morale was low. Nothing serious. Bei Tie thought that the victory of Guandu was already decided. Fu heard that the Prime Minister was sincere in his treatment of things, and was open-minded and willing to help the Prime Minister, defeat Yuan Shao, and help the Han Dynasty together. Be prepared to bow your head immediately and do not be suspicious.
Cao Cao finally let out a long breath, rolled up the cloth carefully, stuffed it into his sleeve, looked at Sun Qian standing in the tent and said with a smile: "Mr. Sun, you have come all the way, thank you for your hard work."
Sun Qian bowed and saluted: "For the important matter of my lord and the prime minister, I dare not neglect it, so I risked my life to cross Yuan Shao's defense zone and come here at starry night. I believe the prime minister understood clearly after reading my lord's letter. This time, I am not only a secret envoy delivering a message, but also an alliance envoy who hopes to change the world."
"Form an alliance?" Cao Cao smiled faintly, "Although I was lucky enough to win the battles of Baima and Yanjin, the situation where the enemy is strong and we are weak has not fundamentally changed. Now Yuan Shao has advanced the main force to Yangwu Nearby, I have to take a step back and be trapped in Guandu. In the next battle, if I am even slightly careless and take a wrong step, I will be in danger of being wiped out. Your choice to form an alliance with me at this time is not too reckless. What?"
Sun Qian seemed to have anticipated Cao Cao's reaction and asked, "Does the minister know about Geng Bao?"
Cao Cao shook his head and said he didn't know.
"Geng Bao is the chief clerk of Yuan Shao's account. After Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor in Yanyue, Huainan, Yuan Shao also became rebellious, so he ordered Geng Bao to find a basis for him to become emperor. Geng Bao once said to Yuan Shao privately: 'Chide has declined. , the Yuan family is a descendant of the Yellow Emperor, so they should follow the will of heaven and people's hearts, and replace the virtue of fire with the virtue of earth.' Geng Bao attributed Yuan's replacement of the Han Dynasty to God's will, which can be said to have won Yuan Shao's heart, so Yuan Shao deliberately went to the army The government officials made public these lies about Geng Bao, hoping that everyone would support them. Unexpectedly, they all believed that Geng Bao's evil words were deceiving the public and confusing the public and should be beheaded. Yuan Shao knew that the time was not yet ripe, so he hurriedly feared that his flaws would be revealed. Let me kill Geng Bao." Sun Qian pondered for a moment, and then said: "The face of Yuan Shao's conspiracy and traitor has been clearly exposed. If the prime minister cannot stop him in Guandu, the day he takes Xuchang will be the day he proclaims himself emperor. hour."
Cao Cao shook his head and smiled: "Mr. Sun's words are too flattering to me. Geng Bao's incident is just a rumor after all. Liu Shijun should know that Yuan Shao came under the banner of being ordered to punish thieves this time, and everyone in the world thought that I am a powerful official holding the emperor's hand to command the princes. If Liu Shijun joins forces with me, aren't you afraid of being reviled?"
"In the past, of course it would have been impossible, but now" Sun Qian let out a long sigh, "In fact, it cannot be denied that my lord does not agree with some of the Prime Minister's actions, and even deeply dislikes them. But Since Heng Ling, the strength of the royal family itself has been in a state of decline, and it is no longer able to suppress the princes of the world. For decades, the real people in power have been either relatives or eunuchs. Even if there is no prime minister in the court at this time, they will There are other powerful ministers, and the majesty of the royal family cannot be preserved. In comparison, the prime minister has become the best choice in the government, because my lord can see that the prime minister is determined to help the weak and save the weak, and continue the extinct destiny. , to prevent the rebellious princes from destroying the Liu family's 400-year-old foundation. This is the situation that my lord wants to see the most. Otherwise, within a few years, I am afraid that the Liu family will not be able to even protect their own ancestral temple. My family How can my lord revive the great Han?"
"Mr. Sun is quite honest." Cao Cao looked directly into Sun Qian's eyes, "So your commander took the initiative to form an alliance with me this time?"
Sun Qian replied resolutely: "That's right." As he spoke, he knelt down on one knee, took out a seal from a small vermillion box he carried with him, and said, "This is my lord's seal. Please take a look at it, the Prime Minister."
"No need." Cao Cao touched the short beard under his chin and smiled meaningfully, "Mr. Sun has already brought your sincerity. If I don't make any further expression, it will be too rude and disrespectful." It's so close to human kindness." Cao Cao stood up and said with a serious expression: "As evidenced by heaven and earth, I, Cao Mengde, agree to form an alliance with Liu Gong Xuande. From today on, we will share weal and woe. If I can defeat Yuan Shao, then I will not surrender to the land of Hebei. Take every penny and leave it all to Liu Shijun to manage it!"
Sun Qian smiled and said: "Prime Minister, aren't you afraid that this is a trap set by us?"
"Now is not the time to be suspicious." Cao Cao pulled out the sword from his waist and stabbed it hard on the cases in front of him. "I am now at a critical moment of life and death. Even if it is a trap, I can only try it!"
It was already late at night when Sun Qian left. Cao Cao went back to his tent and pulled out the sword that was stuck on the table, put it back into its scabbard, leaned on the table and asked a group of advisers and generals under the tent: "What do you think?"
¡°This is a joke!¡± I'm worried that Liu Bei's appetite is too big and he will be more difficult to deal with than Yuan Shao after he captures Hebei."
Guo Jia frowned: "Liu Bei probably saw that we were in a dilemma and took advantage of it. In the current situation, on the one hand, we must avoid an immediate decisive battle, because doing so is likely to endanger the survival of the entire army. ; But on the other hand, we can't delay too long, because the army is short of food and grass, and a quick victory is more beneficial to us. It's just about how to seize the right time to attack" Guo Jia hesitated, no Go on.
"Liu Xuande is a good man in the camp." Cao Cao took out the letter from Liu Bei from his sleeve, lit it with a candle, and burned it to ashes.
"My lord, what do you say?"
Cao Cao blew the ashes off the table and said nonchalantly: "It is useless for me to keep such a letter. It is better to burn it clean. I did not give Liu Bei a written commitment for this reason. Now we are with Yuan Shao In the stalemate in Guandu, we will either defeat the enemy or be defeated. If we defeat Yuan Shao, we can unify the north. If we are defeated by Yuan Shao, we will die without a burial place. There is nothing to discuss. If unfortunately we are defeated, how we die is not up to us, so we still have to see how It is good to defeat the enemy. If you want to defeat Yuan Sheng, there are only two ways, frontal attack or flank harassment. Yuan Shao's troops are five times ours, and seeking a frontal battle is tantamount to seeking death, so we can only choose flank harassment. Yuan Shao's 100,000 troops stationed In Guandu, the supply line in the rear will inevitably be stretched. As long as we seize this weak link and make a big fuss, our chances of winning are estimated to be 50%. If Liu Bei can really provide some useful intelligence, our chances of winning will increase by 10%."
"Liu Bei is not trustworthy." Guo Jia hesitated.
Cao Cao smiled and took out a few more letters from his sleeve: "Liu Bei dared to threaten me because he concluded that I would not be able to cross the Henan Campaign after defeating Yuan Shao. He thought that relying on Youzhou and Bingzhou, he could swallow Yuan Shao. Jizhou and Qingzhou to achieve his ambition of separatizing Hebei. However, Liu Bei never imagined that less than a month after he left Youzhou, Yan Rouxian Yufu, who was die-hardly loyal to him, had already returned to me."
"No matter how ambitious a Machiavellian is, one day his backyard will catch on fire." Cao Cao laughed, and the laughter spread far from the Chinese military tent.