Chapter 882

The Yellow River rolls on, a new tomb stands alone facing east.

The great army stood along the river, looking at the group of lazy soldiers on the other side watching the fun. The autumn wind was desolate, blowing the flags to fly and rustle.

Cao Cao, in precious armor, got off his horse, held the blue steel sword, the armor leaves fluttered, and he walked slowly. At forty-five, he was no longer young. Under the powerful pressure of survival, his hair was gray, his skin was loose, and he looked old.

He stopped in front of the tombstone, looked at the name of Yuan Shao written on it, and asked with a smile: "Brother Benchu, have you been well since we last met?"

Yuan Shao in the tomb must have felt very bad; he knew it...

In a short while, a subordinate brought paper money over, and Cao Cao squatted there, personally burning paper for Yuan Shao while muttering.

Of course, he knew why Yuan Shao sought death; if he were in his shoes, he would have to die too.

Originally, old Cao was just a little brother who followed Yuan Shao's butt and cheered. Even just a few years ago, he still belonged to the power attached to Yuan Shao and had to listen to Yuan Shao's orders. For Yuan Shao, surrendering to his subordinates and living in humiliation was a huge humiliation.

Furthermore, Yuan Shao did not lose all popular support, let alone truly collapse the entire army; at least he still had 10,000 or 20,000 troops in his hands. If he really surrendered to Cao Cao to save his life, he really wouldn't dare to accept it; if something went wrong, there would be internal strife. The reason he stopped fighting was because he couldn't win, couldn't run, and dying early or late was the same; there was really no need to fight useless battles.

In addition, Yuan Shu had not been defeated yet and still had the power to resist. If Yuan Shao played a role in the war against Yuan Shu, like Ma Teng rebelling, wouldn't he, old Cao, be in big trouble?

Therefore, no matter what, it was better for Yuan Shao to die; this was something everyone knew. And with no way to retreat and death imminent, Yuan Shao did not lack the courage to die, so naturally, it became the current situation.

Yuan Shao did not die alone; there were still many loyal people who committed suicide. After they buried Yuan Shao, they jumped into the river very simply. Of course, there were also many people who did not die; basically, they all surrendered to Cao Cao. Whether they would work hard in the future was another matter.

And Yuan Shao's sons could not run away either; they were all caught and were waiting for Cao Cao's disposal in Luoyang City.

After worshipping Yuan Shao, old Cao held the blue steel sword at his waist and walked slowly to the river. The autumn wind rolled his red cloak and also rolled up the yellow sand, making him squint.

His gaze was tightly locked on the group of figures on the opposite side. Although his eyesight was no longer very good, he was of course very clear that it was Wang Yan's great army, waiting for Wang Yan's order. As long as an order was given, they would cross the river and attack.

A group of civil and military officials were also by old Cao's side, looking at the opposite side with him. They only felt powerful pressure.

Simply comparing, Wang Yan only dispatched more than 100,000 troops, and among these 100,000 troops, there were many captives caught. Such an army, in less than a year, beat Yuan Shao until he ran to Henan. And they fought Yuan Shao on equal terms, but they fought for three full years. The gap between them, where is there any need to say more.

Xun Yu said: "Lord, just now I learned from the courtiers in the city that Wang Yan has already sent troops to cross the river to manage Qingzhou. He has obtained Liangzhou and the grasslands for three years, and under his rule, the weather is favorable, it is stable without disasters, and the grain and fodder are sufficient. Since he has already crossed the river to Qingzhou, I think Liangzhou and Bingzhou will also enter Sili and approach Hangu in a few days."

Cao Cao stroked his beard and smiled: "No matter. Looking at Wang Yan's actions, he focuses on people's livelihood, governing one place after another. If I don't attack, he will definitely not come to attack me. Our strategy is already set, Yuan Shao is dead, and Henan is obtained. We have decided to abandon Henan and move south of the Yangtze River. If we abandon Henan, Wang Yan will definitely plow it deeply for several years before moving south of the Yangtze River to attack us, so we still have time.

And wait for a while to rectify, move the people of Henan across the river next spring, destroy Yuan Shu, swallow Liu Biao, control Liu Bei, then enter Yizhou, take Hanzhong, hold Jianmen, and rely on the danger of the Yangtze River to hold off Wang Yan. There may not be no chance of winning."

Having just won a great battle and killed the most powerful force in the past, Yuan Shao, old Cao's confidence was not enough to explode, but the excellent situation still gave him some confidence to fight Wang Yan. When he spoke, he was quite high-spirited.

The civil and military officials on the side were also looking very confident, shouting very fiercely, just like those of the main-war faction under Yuan Shao in the past, as if Wang Yan was nothing more than that.

A group of people expressed their feelings by the river for a while, relaxing their spirits that had been tense for two years due to the continuous war, and then left the river and went to Luoyang.

There were still many things waiting for them to do there, such as Liu Xie's problem, the courtiers' problem, Yuan Shao's old subordinates' problem, and so on...

Danyang, it rained in winter this day. Mi Zhu, Sun Qian, Jian Yong, and others walked quickly to Liu Bei's mansion and found Liu Bei, who was warming wine and drinking a little.

He arched his hands, saluted, and said: "Lord, Yuan Shu has sent an envoy, wanting to form an alliance with us to resist Cao Cao crossing the river and moving south."

"Sit down and talk."

Liu Bei pointed to the opposite side of the table. After the two sat down, he poured wine for them again, also the strong liquor from Grand General Wang's rule.

It was called strong liquor, but it was not very strong, just about 40 degrees. It was proper sorghum liquor, which didn't go to the head after drinking. It was absolutely brewed by ancient methods. Medicine also made medicinal liquor, which was quite popular. However, it consumed grain, and only so much was brewed every year, which was relatively precious, and the price was still quite expensive. Liu Bei could of course afford it and was quite willing to consume it.

After taking a sip of wine and the burning sensation in his chest and abdomen passed, Liu Bei asked: "Zizhong, Gongyou, Xianhe, what do you think?"

Mi Zhu put down the wine cup: "Lord, Yuan Shao is defeated and dead, Cao Cao occupies Henan, and Wang Yan's power is too great to be blocked. He will definitely move south. Yuan Shu, Liu Biao, and the three families of Liu Bei must unite to resist Cao Cao. If Cao moves south, we will definitely be destroyed. At that time, how can we resist Cao Cao? The Yangtze River region is so large, I am afraid there will be no place for us to stand.

Therefore, now that Yuan Shu invites us to form an alliance, our joint resistance against Cao is inevitable. This is still not enough; we must further connect with Liu Biao of Jingzhou and gather the strength of our three families to resist Cao Cao together."

Jian Yong was different from others who sat upright; he had one leg curled and one leg standing, supporting his body with both hands behind him, quite dashing.

He said: "Yuan Shao is defeated and dead, among which there are relationships with courtiers, and even more, the powerful clans under him turned to Cao Cao. We all know the real situation of Liu Biao; the power is controlled by the Cai family and others, I am afraid Cao Cao has already secretly connected. Yuan Shu has been defeated repeatedly, lost Danyang, and retreated to Yuzhang, having already lost the hearts of the powerful clans. Our three families forming an alliance to resist Cao will inevitably be unable to work together. Resisting Cao is afraid it will be difficult to succeed."

"Even if it is difficult to succeed, we have to do it."

Sun Qian was not young, with a wrinkled face, stroking his beard, "Cao Cao gathers Yuan Shao's remnants, with more than 200,000 troops, and Cao Cao has always had strategies, and there is no lack of strategists and fierce generals who can fight. He also occupies the ferry, and there is no shortage of warships. If we don't gather the strength of the three families, it is really difficult to resist. Regardless of whether we ally with Yuan Shu and Liu Biao, the current plan is to take the ferry while Cao Cao is rectifying Henan, so that Cao Cao cannot easily cross the river."

Liu Bei nodded and said: "That's all we can do. Order the second and third brothers to return to the army and attack Cao Cao's ferry along the river."

These ferries were all the credit of Yuan Shu and Yuan Shao's brothers. It was Yuan Shu who held on in the south of the Yangtze River, and Yuan Shao who restrained them on the other side, which only allowed Cao Cao to occupy the ferry.

In fact, in the past, old Cao once occupied a large piece of land in Yuzhang and Danyang. Later, Yuan Shao fought Cao Cao, and Liu Biao intervened, so Cao Cao had to withdraw most of his strength, leaving only the ferry and some surrounding areas as a forward position. The remaining land was then re-occupied by Yuan Shu, and later taken down by Liu Bei in most of the Danyang region.

Sun Qian responded, got up, and went to the side to write the military order.

Looking at him, Jian Yong changed to sitting cross-legged, took a sip of wine, and said: "Recently heard that the fleet sent by Wang Yan to find immortal grain in the past has returned. The newspaper published the soldiers' observations, saying that there is also land overseas, and the land is flat and vast, all of which are fertile fields. Lord, if things don't work out, we might be able to go to sea. At worst, we can also move south to Jiaozhi. It is not impossible for us to build a state outside the borders.

Han Sui wanted to attack Kushan, and Wang Yan even gave him military equipment without sending troops to pursue him. If we go outside the borders, Wang Yan will definitely not care about us and will also give us troops and armor to help us succeed."

Mi Zhu waved his hand with a smile: "The Lord and Wang Yan had contact early on, and even served as an attendant under him. Wang Yan had already said in advance to the Lord that if his great army came to attack, the Lord would not resist stubbornly, and if we did not harm the people and had no reports, we would all be able to live. With Wang Yan's breadth of mind, Lu Bu can still lead a guard alone, so he will definitely not treat us poorly."

Hearing Mi Zhu's words, Liu Bei also nodded with a smile: "My ambition is to restore the Han Dynasty. Now that I look at it, it has already existed in name only. If I cannot restore the Han Dynasty three times, it is useless for us to build a state outside the borders. It is better to help Wang Yan and restore China again."

Expressing his intention without saying anything more about running away outside the borders, Liu Bei changed the subject: "What was said just now about going to sea to find immortals happened to be when I was an attendant for Wang Yan. That morning..."

Liu Bei actually told a story from many years ago, which shows that his mood was very relaxed.

In fact, by now, Liu Bei had nothing to be nervous about. It was no longer the situation ten years ago. At that time, Wang Yan was still shrinking in Liaodong, and Yuan Shao was still arrogant.

Now Yuan Shao is dead, Cao Cao fears Wang Yan and is determined to fight south. The alliance of the three families is inevitably full of contradictions, and maybe even Cao Cao cannot be beaten. And Wang Yan unified the north of the Yellow River, which is only a matter of time. And there are warships capable of sailing overseas. The danger of the Yangtze River actually cannot block Wang Yan at all, and he can directly sail to the coastal areas to land.

Liu Bei is very clear about the fierceness of the army under Wang Yan. If 10,000 people come, it is very easy to hold a place. And Wang Yan attaches great importance to the construction of the logistics system. If they really fight, it will be endless.

So he is very clear that 99% is successful. Even if he unified the south of the Yangtze River, he would not want to compete with Wang Yan now, because it is doomed to be a useless stubborn resistance. This is very desperate, but relatively, it is also a relief. It is so contradictory and so natural; it is a relief of complete abandonment.

As for the remaining 1% possibility of failure, it is that Wang Yan dies suddenly, the whole army is not acclimatized, the whole army is wiped out in one breath, a meteorite hits Wang Yan's head, the whole territory is in a severe drought, and there is no harvest, and so on, which can shake the rule, to reverse the situation. But these are almost impossible.

He understands best. After all, he didn't do as well as Wang Yan, and he achieved his current position by relying on these two strategists and two good brothers. Wang Yan is much better to the common people than him. When the time comes to attack the south of the Yangtze River, it will definitely not be soldiers from the Northeast or Youzhou, but soldiers from Henan, in order to adapt to the discomfort of the climate. Once there are real soldiers from the south of the Yangtze River, then it will be the soldiers from the south of the Yangtze River sweeping everywhere, and they will not be able to resist at all.

He has even been thinking recently whether to just surrender to Wang Yan. When the time comes, he will change from a decision-maker to an executor, easily, and it will be a matter of time anyway.

However, he still hasn't truly given up, intending to take another look. It's just that disappointment is greater than hope, so he no longer worries often now...

At the same time, Wang Yan also received news of the battle in Henan and learned that because of Ma Teng's rebellion, Yuan Shao's entire army collapsed, Yuan Shao committed suicide, and was buried by the Yellow River.

He was not very surprised. Even if Ma Teng didn't rebel, Yuan Shao couldn't play with Cao Cao. Both sides still had some gaps. The simplest one was the lack of intelligent generals, which would lead to some delays during the war, affecting the direction of the war to a certain extent. If the two sides didn't decide the winner this year, the final result would be Cao Cao taking advantage, because they couldn't fight anymore, and the grain and fodder were not enough to support the consumption.

By then, Cao Cao would desperately attack Yuan Shu, run to the south of the Yangtze River, and cut off Yuan Shao's other routes. Because calculating the time, Wang Yan had already been stable for several years, and it was time to act. There was not enough time for them to have another two-year war. The result would be that both Cao Cao and Yuan Shu would be finished.

Ma Teng's rebellion was actually due to many reasons. Because Ma Teng was a royalist, he participated in the incident of the edict in the clothes, and even pointed out that Liu Bei participated. Later, he even entered the capital and was killed by Cao Cao.

Of course, in real history, Ma Teng was also an ambitious man. His death was said to be because Ma Chao pitted his father. At first, old Cao didn't want to kill Ma Teng, but Ma Chao moved troops while Ma Teng was in the capital, causing Ma Teng's death...

Now Ma Teng is a royalist. The emperor escaped from the wolf's den and entered the tiger's mouth. Yuan Shao also had no good attitude toward the emperor and courtiers, and would kill two people if he had nothing to do. This made Liu Xie and the courtiers particularly uneasy, so they must have connected Ma Teng and Cao Cao, and only then were they able to defeat Yuan Shao.

In other words, they chose Cao Cao.

But in fact, what they didn't know was that old Cao couldn't be relied on either.

Old Cao was also a firm loyalist of the Han Dynasty when he was young, running around to save the Han Dynasty, and he was also a person who didn't like powerful families destroying laws and order. Yi Yin and Huo Guang, who had the ability to depose emperors but firmly maintained orthodoxy, were old Cao's role models.

Little by little, old Cao's mentality changed. After all, those with strong soldiers and sturdy horses are worthy of being emperors, but the one with strong soldiers and sturdy horses is him, not the emperor who is nothing. Furthermore, when he reached that point, it wasn't up to him, and he represented the interests of many people, which he couldn't control.

But even so, old Cao was just the King of Wei until he died and never claimed the title of emperor. After all, the situation was the same. His son Cao Pi claimed the title of emperor, so it would definitely be no problem for him to claim the title of emperor.

Judging from the current situation, old Cao was definitely for himself. But the effect of Liu Xie in his hands was different. After all, there was Wang Yan, the great rebel who wanted the world, and there was Wang Yan's political line of slaughtering powerful families. So the legitimacy of the emperor was still quite useful for uniting other warlords and large powerful families.

As for how the situation will develop specifically, time will give the answer...