The Collection of The End

——A.D. 179——

"Then, Zhenji, Dunqiu will be left to your disposal."

Before the official expedition, Cao Cao handed over all the official seals, official uniforms, tokens, tiger charms and other items of Dunqiu County Magistrate to Cai Wan who stayed behind, causing her to give Cao Cao a blank look while no one was looking.

There is nothing that can be done about it. According to the tradition at this time, as a descendant of a big family, once he leaves the capital, he is called an official, which is actually to expand his power. If a descendant of a family has been an officer in a certain place for a long time, once he As soon as he leaves office, he will be replaced by others. Then others will suspect that the family is either incompetent or has no money.

Not to mention the old Liu family who have settled in various places, or the Yuan family outside the Guan, and the Yang family inside the Guan, just talk about the northeast of Dunqiu, located in Beihai, Xuzhou, where the descendants of the Confucius family, who are known as the descendants of Confucius, have served as officials for generations, and official positions have been replaced. They are all chosen internally, and the court will not send outsiders over to ask for trouble.

Although Cao Teng's branch of the Cao family is not prosperous, Cao Teng's family and the Xiahou family where stepson Cao Song originally lived are quite powerful. If Cao Cao is transferred here, Dunqiu will It was taken over by someone else... haha.

Therefore, the recruitment order for Cao Cao did not mention him "resigning" at all. The implicit meaning was that as long as he could handle the internal affairs of Dunqiu during the expedition, the local court would not care about it. It is unclear whether the above reasons were mixed with the small intention of using Dunqiu to contain some of Cao Cao's team.

Taken together, giving Dunqiu to Cai Wan is the best choice. She has to take care of Cai Yan and is inconvenient to go to the battlefield. She can also take care of Cao Cao's wife, concubine and son who are also unable to take him to the front line. Most importantly, She has excellent martial arts and is Cai Yong's daughter. She can beat whoever she wants - Yuan Shao agrees with this very much.

Stab-prick-

"It's too ugly." Cai Wan explained casually, and then unceremoniously cut the new official uniform that Cao Cao gave her. Cao Cao could only pretend to be stupid. If he pointed out, "You are actually dissatisfied with my behavior." If he was "venting his anger", the one who was "cut out" was probably him.

"There is another reason, and that is Benchu," Cao Cao said. "He is the same age as me, and he is also the legitimate son, but he has not yet been married. If he continues to stay in Dunqiu, it will be troublesome. I heard that Yuan The family has already arranged for him to get married, so he just throws it back to get married, and seize the time to have a little... ahem, child."

"You want to say 'little monkey'?" the "substitute" mocked from the side.

Isn’t it because you came back and laughed and said that the Yuan family married Yuan Shao, a male monkey, to a female monkey?

Cao Cao glanced at the "substitute" quickly, and then noticed that Zhenji's expression was wrong, and quickly added: "Oh, men need to get married as soon as possible to carry on the family line. Women don't have to worry about this at all."

"Because I won't give birth to a child with their last name anyway~" "Substitute" said again.

Where did he learn this way of speaking that makes people choke to death with one sentence? Could it be a series...

Cao Cao pinched his forehead with a slight headache, and then found that the "substitute" also frowned and pressed the same spot.

"Hey, if you talk nonsense again and make me have a headache, you won't feel better." Cao Cao said quickly in a low voice while Cai Wan started to cut the official uniform again.

"Hmph..." The "substitute" seemed to have a serious headache, so he just responded casually.

Finally, Cao Cao took the Xiahou brothers, Dian Wei and Yuan Shao, led 5,000 cavalry and hundreds of chariots and baggage and left Dunqiu for Luoyang.

Although the Cai sisters stayed behind, they also promised to leave with Cao Cao's family if things were not harmonious. Ding Yi, who was born in a noble family, and Bian Ling, who was a singer, had nothing to help Cao Cao and could only promise to teach Cao Ang well. .

Cao Ang, who is currently only four years old, saluted gracefully when bidding farewell and clearly said "I wish my father will come back victorious as soon as possible", which made Cao Cao very happy.

Many aristocratic families in Yanzhou breathed a sigh of relief. With the departure of the Dragon Crossing the River, they no longer had to worry about the expansion of the Cao family's sphere of influence. As for Dunqiu? Whoever wants to die can take advantage of it.

————

During a short break during the march, Cao Cao took the initiative to introduce his own fighting style and "unparalleled" characteristics to the newly arrived Xiahou brothers in order to facilitate cooperation in future battles.

His own is naturally a "substitute", which can transform into a "ghost" to fight on his own. The longer it lasts, the more energy is consumed - Wushuang himself has self-awareness and can run around regardless of distance restrictions. Absolutely no one can be told.

Dian Wei's "Wushuang" is "Guard". You can select someone to become a guard target. Any actions for the purpose of guarding will be strengthened. When they encounter danger, their combat effectiveness will be further improved. However, because of daily competition, it is impossible to kill them seriously. hand, so I haven't tested how far his limit can reach yet.

Yuan Shao skipped... If there is one, its negative effect must be a significant reduction in intelligence.

The Xiahou brothers themselves came here to assist Cao Cao and would not hide their secrets. However, Xiahou Dun seemed to have no concerns and insisted on letting Xiahou Yuan speak first.

"Well~ My 'Wushuang' is called 'Tianfeng'," said Xia Houyuan, who was dressed as an archer but with strangely thick armor. "It can greatly extend the range of the bow and arrow, and its power is no different from that of just leaving the string. It has not yet been Testing the limits, just because if the distance is too far I can’t even see the target, let alone shoot.”

Oh, so it's very important to choose a high ground with a good view for him - if you want to take advantage of this power.

"The 'Wushuang' I have is called the 'Evil Eye'." By shouting exaggerated slogans, you can gain enhanced combat power - a brilliant talent?"

"Ah...it's true." Xia Houyuan took his bow and walked more than ten steps toward the open space. He turned around and pointed three arrows at Xiahou Dun. His tone changed: "[In the face of absolute power, you have no chance of winning, brother. ]"

As soon as he finished speaking, three arrows shot out from the string.

"[My stupid brother——]" When Cao Cao and Dian Wei were surprised and ready to intercept, with a loud shout, Xiahou Dun had already cut off the three arrows with his sword in an instant, and the blade stopped steadily. Before Xia Houyuan put down his long bow, he said: "[You know nothing about the power of darkness!]"

"..." Cao Cao didn't know how to evaluate it for a moment, and even his "substitute" was stunned.

"Well, it's quite impressive." Dian Wei commented.

"You know nothing about the power of the Four Worlds and Three Dukes!" Yuan Shao waved his sword and tried to imitate.

"That is to say, if you encounter an opponent who likes to talk, Yuan Rang, you can easily defeat him?" Cao Cao tried to summarize.

"I heard that there is a fierce general named 'Lu Bu' in Liangzhou, who is known as the best in the world. I am preparing to take this opportunity to meet him." Xiahou Dun sheathed his sword and responded proudly: "Let's see who is the best in the world." one】."

Is that last sentence true or an act? Cao Cao looked at Xia Houyuan, who had the long bow on his back and was shrugging his shoulders and spreading his hands towards him, and felt his head hurt again.

————

This episode on the way was basically nothing special for the five thousand cavalry who were used to having an "unparalleled" general making some noise from time to time, but it made Cao Cao discover a big problem.

There is no strategist in his team!

You must know that these conscripted troops are not going to exterminate bandits or hunt down bandits. They are about to engage in a major counter-insurgency campaign involving more than 200,000 people. Without an overall plan, they will only see the results based on limited intelligence. It would be very difficult for these 5,000 people to protect themselves even if they were recruiting, let alone killing the enemy and slapping Zhang Wen in the face.

If you accidentally fall into a tight siege and cannot "break out", the entire army will probably be wiped out except for these "unparalleled generals".

Although Cao Cao thinks he is smart enough, as a general, he cannot and does not have the time to deal with the complicated information. In this case, he can only detour to Yingchuan to "borrow" people in the name of the Cao family and the Yuan family. There was no way to recruit him. He was just a small county magistrate at the moment, but the "Eight Dragons of the Xun Family" had been famous for a long time. If they could borrow a small disciple, it would be enough to give both of them face.

Yingchuan was the capital of the ancient Xia Dynasty. It has grown to seventeen cities and has a strong academic atmosphere. Among them, Yangzhai (di) and Yingyin produced two famous celebrities in the Qin and Han Dynasties, Lu Buwei and Zhang Liang.

The famous "Yingchuan Academy" here is not "which one", but the collective name of the Xun family's private schools, or "every family". In addition to the Xun family's children, it also recruits talented students from all over the country. It is said that Xu Shao and Xu Zi will be When he passed Yingchuan, he didn't comment at all. Folk rumors said that he was frightened by the talent everywhere.

The Xun family's family is in Yangzhai, but it will take a lot of time not to mention the detour there. The identities of Cao Cao and Yuan Shao alone are not enough for them to send qualified people to receive them, so instead of asking for trouble, it is better to Wander around Yingyin and see if there is anyone in the academy who is from a branch of the family or from a poor family who is willing to see the world. After all, there is a sage who said that reading thousands of books is not as good as traveling thousands of miles.

Those students are very shrewd. Even Cao Cao himself can understand the purpose of this army passing by, and the identities of the several generals are also quite easy to find out. So, there is no need to say anything during this trip, just visit the local places one by one. In the academy, there will be a banquet or something before leaving, and those who are willing to go with us will stay. Even if no one is willing to go with us, because we have not explicitly proposed solicitation, it does not mean that we have lost the family's face.

However, when Cao Cao settled in his troops and was about to enter Yingyin City with the gifts from his visit to Mr. Academy, he met a boy about ten years old on the side of the road. He looked thin and frail, wearing commoners, and his hair was slightly Ku Huang, holding a three-year-old girl with a kitten mask on her forehead, said to Cao Cao who passed by: "Go directly to Xun Chen Xun Youruo, others will ignore you."

When Cao Cao understood what he was talking about and turned around in shock, the boy and the girl had disappeared out of thin air.