Juancheng, Sikong Mansion.

The young Cao Pi looked at the battle report that the fast horses in the army rushed to send back, and his face was gloomy.

Because his seventeen-year-old body has not yet fully grown, even though Cao Pi's mind is mature, his behavior in front of everyone seems to be mature. However, in the eyes of some old ministers and powerful generals, it is inevitable that he should regard this young Cao Sikong as a young child.

In addition, due to the sinister nature of Cao Pi, he became concise after taking over the Sikong Mansion, and tended to manipulate power and control the situation behind the scenes. If he was not an important confidant or confidential civil and military man, he would often not be able to see his lord.

Thanks to the previous structural construction and personnel arrangements of his father Cao Cao, the Sikong Mansion not only undermined the court, but also firmly controlled the military power at the center, so that the orders issued by Cao Pi, who gradually adapted to the high position, could also be successfully sent to the place with the cooperation of Xun Yu, Guo Jia and others.

On the surface, everything seems to have not changed much from Cao Cao's time.

However, as the party involved, Cao Pi, who was extremely sensitive to power, knew very well that his personal authority was still very fragile and there were many threats to him within.

Part of it comes from my family uncles.

After Cao Cao's death, the military power of the Cao army was ordered by Sikong Mansion and was scattered in the hands of Xiahou Dun, Cao Hong, Cao Chun and other relatives. Although these uncles supported the rule of the Cao family, they might not be convinced by Cao Pi. Xiahou Dun and Cao Chun were better. Cao Hong, who was originally the right-winger in the army, was quite unfair to "the generals are outside, and the king's orders are not accepted", and sometimes even disobeyed the military orders from Cao Pi.

For example, this time when Yuan Tan sent an envoy to ask the Cao army to attack Ye, Cao Pi was quite excited and wanted to take this opportunity to show his military talent. He immediately agreed to an alliance with Yuan Tan's envoy. However, Cao Hong, the leader, complained about the military orders from Sikong Mansion, and he was even more afraid of the enemy. When he saw Yan Xing's big flag, he shrank and avoided the war passively. He allowed Yuan Tan's army to retreat alone. The fighter's opportunity disappeared, and then he led his army back to several cities on the Dongjun defense line.

However, Cao Pi was unable to do anything about this matter, so he could only let Cao Hong take charge of military affairs.

"Yuan Xiansi was defeated and trapped in Nanpi City. He heard that he had been besieged by the soldiers in Guanxi and sent envoys to ask for help. What do you think should you deal with it?"

Cao Pi tried his best to dispel the thoughts in his heart and calmed down his mind, looking at the counselors left by his father in the hall and asked calmly.

As the ruler, Cao Pi focused on cultivation of his ability to not show his emotions and make it difficult for his subordinates to figure out his own thoughts.

Guo Jia in the hall was silent. Unlike Cao Cao who relied on Guo Jia, Cao Pi seemed to be a little afraid of this minister who had been very smart and had a long time to take back his power in charge of school affairs. Guo Jia also knew the principle of being with the king and tiger. He was free and unruly these days and began to become cautious in his words and actions, and to protect himself.

Liu Ye, who was more highly valued by Cao Pi, took the lead in speaking out. He knew that what Cao Pi wanted to ask was not simply to deal with the envoy of Yuan Tan, but to the big problem of how the Cao army in the Central Plains dealt with itself in the current situation.

"Ming Gong, now that the fighter's plane has been lost, Yuan Tan is trapped in the lonely city. Seeing that the defeat is about to be destroyed, it is useless to send troops to rescue him rashly. You just need to send the envoy back."

"Now, I think the first thing is to consider the east."

"East?" Cao Pi was stunned for a moment and soon realized.

"What Ziyang said is Qingzhou?"

"It is precisely. If the Ming Duke and Yuan Tan were defeated, Qingzhou would have no master. If Guanxi troops were allowed to seize the Beihai, and many places in Qi, the enemy troops would immediately share the dangerous rivers with us. Guanxi troops were strong. Instead of being controlled by others, it would be better to take the initiative and seize Qingzhou and resist the enemy on the river!"

Liu Ye's thoughts jumped a little quickly. Cao's army was originally on the decision to rescue Yuan Tan or not, but in a blink of an eye it turned into a military operation to seize Qingzhou. Even though Cao Pi was young and mature, he had to think about the benefits and interests of it after some thought.

However, the main units of the Cao army were either led by Cao Hong to station in the river, Xiahou Dun led by guard Chenliu, or Cao Chun led by Cao Cao to guard the center. In an instant, Cao Pi really couldn't think of how to mobilize the troops of these relatives and generals.

"If you want to take Qingzhou, then do you think, who should you use?"

Cao Pi did not choose to stay on this difficult issue, leaving his subordinates with an opportunity to spy on his heart, and directly threw the problem back to Liu Ye and others.

This time, Dong Zhao stood up and answered. After communicating with Liu Ye, he spoke:

"I recommend the General of the Central Army to lead the troops to capture Qingzhou!"

After saying that, Dong Zhao stated that Yu Jin was majestic and able to convince the public. His troops were stationed in Xuzhou, sending troops quickly and convenient roads, but he only skipped his own friendship with him.

Cao Pi nodded slightly, but did not immediately express his opinion.

He was personally quite satisfied with Jin's military ability and loyalty. When he inherited his father's throne, the personnel of Sikong Mansion had not been adjusted in his father's death, and he could not issue any effective orders to various troops of the Cao army. As time went on to rebellion in Xuzhou, the Sikong Mansion, which was struggling, could only give Yu Jin the title of General of the Central Army, and asked him to take a new soldier to command Zang Ba, Sun Guan and other Taishan troops to quell the repeated rebellion of Changfeng.

In terms of its original intention, the Sikong Mansion did not hope that Yu Jin could suppress Zang Ba, Sun Guan and other powerful soldiers in Mount Tai under such circumstances, nor did he hope that Yu Jin could quell the rebellion of Changxi. He just hoped that Yu Jin, who was also a Taishan native, could reconcile the rebels of Shunchangxi with his old friendship with Changxi's fellow countrymen, even if it was only a short period of stability.

But Yu Jin's performance was far beyond everyone's expectations. Not only did he convince Zang Ba, Sun Guan and other arrogant soldiers with his personal ability, he also used a combination of military affairs and induce surrender to lure Chang Xi, who had repeatedly surrendered and rebelled, and killed it on the spot, and completely quelled the Chang Xi rebellion that had plagued the Cao army for a long time with lightning speed.

And even such a general who made great contributions still held a strict army and had no selfish entry. He handed over all the money seized from the rebellion without any greed.

This is in sharp contrast with Cao Hong, a relative general. Cao Pi had already made a mark on Yu Jin in his heart that he could use.

However, at this time, the dispatch of troops is the autocracy of the superiors. In terms of personnel, it is not entirely led by the subordinates. Therefore, after Cao Pi pondered, he said solemnly:

"Since that's the case, then you can send an order to Yu Jin and Lu Qian's two troops stationed troops in Langya and the border of Mount Tai. If Qingzhou has an opportunity to take advantage of the opportunity, they will immediately send troops to seize it."

···

Yuan Tan is undoubtedly at the end of his life.

The so-called rebellions initiated by the old Yuan family and old officials were vulnerable to Guanxi soldiers and horses. The rebels who raised the flag were all destroyed by Cao Yuan's army within ten days. Xu Huang's army even cooperated with Cao Yuan's army to pursue Yuan Tan's defeated soldiers, and the troops were at the city and jointly besieged Nanpi City.

Under this trend, the chief officials of the city and towns in Bohai, Hejian, Pingyuan and other places surrendered or fled, and most of the cities and towns in Jizhou fell into the hands of the soldiers in Guanxi, and no soldiers were sent to rescue Nanpi City at all.

Wang Xiu, a different leader from Qingzhou, was loyal to Yuan Tan. After receiving the emergency documents brought by the envoy, he personally led his troops across the river to rescue Nanpi. However, Wang Xiu himself was not a good general, and his soldiers were also afraid of the soldiers in Guanxi. They were intercepted by Xu Huang's army halfway through, and they suffered repeated setbacks and could not advance in an instant.

And something worse is still happening.

After Wang Xiu sent all the troops from Qingzhou to rescue Yuan Tan, he was ordered to station troops in Mount Tai. Lu Qian on the border of Langya was waiting for an opportunity to move, and he did not look like an allied army who could help each other. They immediately sent troops to attack Qingzhou cities. After breaking through the Muling Pass, the empty Beihai, Qi and Jinan were useless. The Cao army, who was advancing rapidly, captured most of the counties and counties on the south bank of Qingzhou. Only a few cities in Donglai were still struggling to support them under the leadership of the governor.

After the news reached the north bank, the soldiers under Wang Xiu's command and the civilians roared in the night. Before the Guanxi soldiers attacked, the uncontrolled Qingzhou people fled in the chaos. Most of them crossed the river and fled back to Qingzhou, while a few simply surrendered to the opposite Guanxi soldiers.

Overnight, Wang Xiu had only a dozen cavalry left under his command. He could not save the master in danger, and retreated and could not defend the people. He was ashamed. He wanted to draw his sword and commit suicide, but was stopped by his quick-witted kiss, so he became loyal to death. He followed the relatives who had been following him to die overnight to Nanpi City.

Just so happened that the day when Wang Xiu arrived outside the city, he encountered Yuan Tan leaving the city to fight Xu Huang's army.

Yuan Tan, who had been trapped for many days, saw that the reinforcements were not delayed and was afraid that the morale of the guards in the city would be exhausted, so he decided to throw all the troops in the city to fight Xu Huang's army before Cao Yuan's army arrived.

Before the war, some officials and soldiers persuaded Yuan Tan to abandon the city and flee and surrender to Yan Xing, but he flatly refused.

His eyes were bloodshot and his expression was terrifying. He roared:

"The Yuan family's four generations and three masters, how can the great foundation be destroyed by me in one go? A real man would rather fight to the death than become a prisoner."

It is because of this arrogance in his heart that he is unwilling to be inferior to his brothers. To this day, he is still unwilling to lower his head, like Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi, abandoning his foundation for life, and fleeing to the Hu people outside the frontier like a broken dog.

So, Wang Xiu, who took advantage of the war between the two sides, climbed a mound and saw with his own eyes the entire process of the war.

At the beginning, Yuan Tan's army came out and took the initiative to attack, while Xu Huang's army was ready to make peace and stood firm.

During the process, Yuan Tan's army and his entire army were unable to break through the formation set up by Xu Huang after three charges. His morale quickly faded and his troops became scattered. Yuan Tan had no choice but to lead his personal soldiers forward and break forward.

The flag, which symbolized his identity, left the soldiers on the verge of defeat, and quickly advanced forward. After a fierce attack, it quickly broke through a small enemy formation and successfully broke into the formation. But immediately, the flag stopped among the dense armored soldiers in the formation. Then it began to sway like a small boat in the wind and waves. Finally, accompanied by the enemy's cheers, it was powerless to fall, and drowned in the countless fighting strokes.

"Ming Gong!"
Chapter completed!