After the meeting, I did not return to my own nest, but went to the backyard and asked the steward to inform me that I had something to ask for an audience.
Cao Cao was changing his clothes and preparing to relax in the garden of the mansion. When he heard that I was asking for an audience, he ordered his family to take me to the back garden to wait. Before the Song Dynasty, men and women had not reached the point of not sitting at the same table after the age of seven and not being close to each other. It was natural for the empress dowager to rule the court throughout the Han Dynasty, and no one would come out to object to saying that a hen crowing at dawn would ruin the family business. And for a long time, although the princesses of the royal family did not have the right to inherit the throne, the status of the eldest princess in the bureaucracy was still very high. There were many cases where the eldest princess participated in the government and influenced the political situation. The royal family was like this, so there were naturally not many restrictions on ministers and wealthy families. Therefore, summoning subordinates in places with inner families was not only not impolite, but also a sign of closeness.
As soon as I entered the garden, I saw a toddler walking towards me in the care of several maids and old women. The child's big eyes and chubby little face made people very cute. This child should be Cao Zhi who can compose a poem in seven steps. Sitting in the pavilion in the garden, I admired the picture of the naughty boy learning to walk with great interest, and I didn't even notice Cao Cao's arrival.
Cao Cao sat down beside me and said, "Feng Xiao, what do you think of this child?"
I didn't stand up to greet him, but replied with a smile, "People say that you can only see the old age at the age of three, but it's hard to say now."
Cao Cao also laughed and said, "Feng Xiao, don't you even say a word of flattery?"
I said seriously, "If the lord wants to hear flattery, it's not easy. When the lord achieves hegemony in the future, flattering words such as singing praises will always surround the lord's ears."
Cao Cao's smile froze on his face, and after a while, he said with a stern face, "Guo Jia's words are very serious!"
He didn't call me by my courtesy name, but called me by my full name. He wanted to scare me! If you can fool me with this, my psychology studies are in vain, so I laughed loudly: "Haha! Jia doesn't say this, only he has the status of a shi."
After hearing what I said, Cao Cao also laughed: "I heard from Xun You that Feng Xiao is not only a genius, but also a playboy. It's true! Haha!"
Attracted by the laughter, Cao Zhi walked towards the pavilion curiously, staggered a few steps and sat on the ground, and the little guy actually crawled over quickly with his hands on the ground. This action made Cao Cao and I laugh even more.
Cao Cao got off the pavilion and picked up Cao Zhi, sweeping his beard on his little face a few times. Little Cao Zhi showed his little teeth and laughed while playing with his father's beard. After teasing the child for a while and letting someone take the child away, Cao Cao suddenly asked, "Is Fengxiao's wife pregnant?"
I saw Cao Zhi babbling in the maid's arms and said happily, "Yes, Jia will be a father in three months."
Cao Cao pointed at Cao Zhi's figure going away and said, "What if your wife gives birth to a daughter and marries her to my son?"
No way! Do you think I will be a father-in-law before the child is born even though I have the face of a father-in-law? But I have to give this face. I had to say, "It is Jia's blessing to be related to the lord, but I don't know whether it is a boy or a girl."
Cao Cao said, "If it is a boy, it would be better to marry my son."
What else can I say to Cao Cao's proposal that is blocking both ends except to agree! Fortunately, my wife gave birth to a son three months later, otherwise it would be really weird to be Cao Zhi's father-in-law.
After chatting, it was time to get down to business. I said, "My Lord, Jia expects that expelling Jin Shang this time will lead to war, so we need to prepare early."
Cao Cao didn't understand for a moment and said, "The court is controlled by Li, Guo and others. There are news that they have been in conflict recently and attack each other all day long. They should have no time to take care of other things, right? What's more, Chang'an is thousands of miles away from Yanzhou, and the court should not send troops."
I said, "According to Jia's prediction, Jin Shang, who was blocked by our army, could not enter Yanzhou, and he had no face to return to Chang'an like this, but went to seek refuge with someone!"
After a little thought, Cao Cao said: "Yuan Shu?"
I nodded and said, "Yes, it is Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu has been coveting the grain and grass of Yanzhou for a long time. If he had not been fighting with his brother Yuan Shao last year, he would have sent troops to Yanzhou in the name of suppressing the Yellow Turbans. Even so, Yuan Shu has been jealous of Yuan Shao for a long time for his lord to be the governor of Yanzhou. At present, the two brothers have temporarily stopped fighting. It's fine if Jin Shang doesn't go to surrender this time. If Jin Shang goes to Yuan Shu, Yuan Shu will definitely use this as an excuse to send troops to Yanzhou."
Cao Cao nodded and said, "Yes, but Yuan Shu is strong in troops and horses. How should our army deal with him?"
I said, "Our army will fight Yuan alone. Yuan Shu is short of troops for fighting, and Yuan Shao is restrained by Gongsun Zan and cannot help us. Only Liu Biao of Jingzhou can be used as a support. As long as our army can hold on for two months, Liu Biao will see that there is profit to be made and will definitely send troops to attack Wancheng, which can save our army. "
After thinking about it, Cao Cao thought it made sense and said, "If Liu Jingsheng of Jingzhou can send troops, it will not only help to relieve the siege of Yanzhou, but also may cause Yuan Shu to lose troops and be seriously injured."
I discussed the details with Cao Cao and prepared to leave. I remembered that there was something I wanted to remind Cao Cao, so I said, "My lord, send someone to Langya to fetch the old man. , we need to plan more for safety along the way. "
Cao Cao was surprised and said: "Feng Xiao is really a genius! Benchu sent a letter the day before yesterday saying that Gongsun Zan sent his subordinate Liu Bei to station troops in Gaotang, Shan Jing to station troops in Pingyuan, and Xuzhou Tao Qian also stationed troops in Fagan. It is possible that he wanted to attack him from both sides. Our army is scheduled to attack these three places in March next spring. So today I sent someone to Xuzhou Langye to pick up my father and bring him to Yanzhou. One is to show that Yanzhou will never be abandoned, and the other is to prevent Tao Qian from harming him during the battle. At present, Tao Qian should not send anyone to harm him for the time being, which is inconsistent with his personality, but thank you Feng Xiao!"
How could it be? This is completely different from the records in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms that I know! Has history changed, or is this the true face of history? But think about it carefully, at present Yuan Shao, Cao Cao, and Liu Biao are allies, while Yuan Shu, Gongsun Zan and Tao Qian are allies. The two allies have been fighting for a long time. Although Tao Qian and Cao Cao have not fought yet, they will fight sooner or later, so it is unlikely that Tao Qian will send someone to escort Cao Song.
I returned home with a lot of questions in my mind. I saw that Wei Yan, who was sent by me to look for Zhao Yun, had returned. I hurriedly asked: "Did Wen Chang find Zhao Zilong?"
Wei Yan whispered: "I found him, but he has already surrendered to Gongsun Zan and said that he does not want to serve the descendants of eunuchs as his master."
Damn! What's wrong with eunuchs! There are good eunuchs too! For example, that one... which one... I really can't remember! It's true that the waves wash away the sand, and the feathers and horns are rare, but I firmly believe that there must be good people among the eunuchs, so you can't overturn the boat with one pole! What's more, Cao Cao himself is not a eunuch!
Wei Yan is really stupid. It doesn't matter what method he uses. As long as he can get Zhao Yun to stay for a few days, I will find a way to keep him. I was so angry that I turned around the room several times like a millstone and said, "Didn't you ask him to preside over Zhao Yu's marriage?"
Wei Yan said, "He said he was very grateful for your help and would repay you one day. He also said that since you saved Zhao Yu, you are her second parents, so please let me take charge of the marriage."
I fainted! I woke up and fainted again! What is going on? People are like this. The better they think they are, the less they can get, and the less they can get, the better they think!
Wei Yan blushed and said, "That, sir... that between me and Xiaoyu."
"Don't even think about it, go beat your bachelor!" I jumped up and down and cursed, "Xiaoyu... Xiaoyu, you're calling me so intimately! I'll let her go to a nunnery to be a nun, and I've even thought of a name for her, it's Nun Miejue!"
But she was still angry, and after being depressed for a long time, she called Wei Yan, who was full of shame, and said, "Wenchang, go and do something. If you do it well, I will not only be the one to marry Zhao Yu to you, but also recommend you to the lord to be an official."
Wei Yan was overjoyed when he heard it, and hurriedly came over with a grin to listen to my instructions.
Xiahou Yuan, Cao Hong, and Le Jin were ordered to lead troops to stop Jin Shang outside Yanzhou. After finding out Jin Shang's itinerary, the 20,000-man army set up a battle formation on the road that must be passed. Jin Shang, who had never experienced a battle, saw that Cao's army was so powerful that he had to retreat in disgrace. He had no face to return to Chang'an, so he surrendered to Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu was very unwilling to see Jin Shang being driven back by Cao Cao, so he immediately contacted Gongsun Zan to let him contain Yuan Shao. Yuan Shu, on the grounds that Cao Cao disobeyed orders and was a rebellious minister, marched his army to Chenliu, intending to occupy Yanzhou.
Cao Cao, who was already prepared, also led tens of thousands of troops to station in Chenliu to confront Yuan Shu's 100,000 troops.
(The Records of Emperor Wu of the Three Kingdoms records that Yuan Shu and Shao had a feud, and Shu asked Gongsun Zan for help. Zan sent Liu Bei to station in Gaotang, Shan Jing to station in Pingyuan, and Tao Qian to station in Fagan to force Shao. Taizu (Cao Cao) joined forces with Shao to attack and defeated them all.)