The Nameless of the Common Clans

Mengjin, formerly known as Mengjin, is located in the northeast of Luoyang. It was the place where King Wu of Zhou summoned the princes to swear an oath of blood. It is located on the bank of the river and is a small ferry.

The terrain here is mostly hilly. An old man summarized the terrain of this area as "three mountains, six hills and one river". Mengjin is stuck in this river. It is the only way to go from Henei to Luoyang.

The original garrison commander of Mengjin was Zhou Yong. He was originally a general under Xu Rong. Later, he was promoted to a lieutenant for his merits. The princes rebelled, and Mengjin's position would naturally not be ignored. However, Mengjin was just a small pass. At the recommendation of Xu Rong, Zhou Yong came here to garrison.

"I will see the right general!" Outside Mengjin City, Zhou Yong opened the city and let Chen Mo in after seeing Chen Mo's transfer order.

"General Zhou, no need to be polite." Chen Mo nodded and waved his hand, saying, "From now on, Mengjin will be under my control. This is General Zhou's transfer order."

Zhou Yong took the transfer order, and after confirming that it was correct, he saluted Chen Mo and said, "I will gather some troops and rush to Chenggao."

"Slow down!" Chen Mo nodded and smiled. Chen Mo admired Zhou Yong's meticulous attitude. Although he had little contact with Xu Rong, he was a capable person from the fact that he defeated Cao Cao first, then Sun Jian, and later cooperated with Lu Bu to beat the coalition forces so that they could not cross the river.

After Zhou Yong left, Chen Mo began to rearrange the defense of Mengjin. If you look carefully, you will find that the defense set by Chen Mo is more to defend the direction of Luoyang. At the same time, Chen Mo is also repairing the ferry by the river and widening the ferry. Now that he has taken control of Mengjin, he can take a boat to cross the river at any time and retreat from Hanoi to Hedong. If the water flow is not fast, he can also go upstream and reach Hedong directly.

In short, for Chen Mo, he is now in a state where he can leave Dong Zhuo at any time. The next step is to get in touch with the princes.

In Luoyang, Dong Zhuo used Chen Mo's plan to transfer Lü Bu and Xu Rong back, abandon Xingyang and Aocang, and ordered Xu Rong to guard Hulao. Lü Bu led his army back to Luoyang, and Dong Zhuo personally led the army to fight Yuan Shu.

However, what made Chen Mo speechless was that Dong Zhuo had withdrawn his troops, but Yuan Shao was reluctant to cross the river. Seeing that it was already August and the weather was getting colder, if this continued, the battle at Dagu Pass might be over.

"My lord, are you looking for me?" Yu Sheng came to the hall and saluted Chen Mo.

"Yes." Chen Mo thought for a while, handed a letter to Yu Sheng and said, "I want you to go to Suanzao and deliver a letter to Cao Cao for me. You know him."

Yu Sheng was with Chen Mo when he was in the Eight Schools of Xiyuan, so he naturally recognized Cao Cao.

Yu Sheng took the letter with some doubts, and did not ask any more questions. He just bowed and turned to leave.

Looking at the direction where Yu Sheng left, Chen Mo rubbed his temples. Before returning to Hedong, he needed to clean up his reputation, otherwise after Dong Zhuo withdrew to Guanzhong, he might become the primary target of attack by the princes. This was not okay. He needed a relatively stable environment to develop.

No matter what Dong Zhuo's difficulties were, once he retreated to Chang'an, for Chen Mo, he would become Dong Zhuo's bridgehead. Jizhou and Youzhou could come to attack him. On the contrary, it would be easier to guard against Dong Zhuo. Moreover, once he retreated to Chang'an, it was very likely that it would be a sign of prosperity and decline for Dong Zhuo. After all, Dong Zhuo was old. If Dong Zhuo had any accidents, no one in the Xiliang army could replace Dong Zhuo. Chen Mo would not take this risk.

…

Sour jujube, the princes' camp.

After being ambushed by Lu Bu and killing Wang Kuang last time, the princes' camps were rearranged and became closer to each other.

Cao Cao came out of Yuan Shao's camp, reeking of alcohol and somewhat exhausted. After being abused by Lu Bu and Xu Rong last time, Yuan Shao obviously wanted to wait until the river froze in winter before crossing the river. Now the princes were drunk all day long, and no one knew when this battle would start.

In comparison, Yuan Shu was much more decisive. Hearing that Dagu Pass had been breached, Cao Cao felt that at this time, Dong Zhuo would definitely gather troops to fight Yuan Shu. It was their chance. He wanted to persuade Yuan Shao to take the opportunity to send troops, but he drank with a group of people for a day.

Touching the fat on his belly, Cao Cao was a little helpless. If he continued like this, would he become like these people?

"Meng De!" Just after returning to the camp, Xiahou Dun came to greet him.

"You came just in time. Prepare some clean water for me." Cao Cao looked at Xiahou Dun and smiled.

"There's no rush. Someone came here today and said that Yu Sheng, the military commander of the lower army, wanted to see you and came from Luoyang." Xiahou Dun frowned at Cao Cao and said, "Do you know this person?"

"Yu Sheng? I have some impression of him." Cao Cao felt a little dizzy and didn't react for a while. He muttered the name while walking. After a few steps, he suddenly stopped, causing Xiahou Dun, who had been following him, to almost bump into him.

"Lower army commander?" Cao Cao turned his head and looked at Xiahou Dun: "Yu Sheng?"

"That's the man. Do you know him?" Xiahou Dun nodded.

"This man is a general under Chen Mo and is quite trusted by Chen Mo. Did he say why he came here?"

"He was delivering a letter, but I asked him to bring the letter, but he refused and insisted on seeing you." Xiahou Dun frowned.

Cao Cao paced back and forth for a few steps and asked, "Does anyone else know about this?"

"No." Xiahou Dun shook his head and said, "Chen Mo sent a letter at this time..."

"I don't know. My little brother's mind is slippery, but it should be related to the war at this time. I will sober up, you bring him to see me." After Cao Cao finished speaking, he went straight to his tent, washed his face with cold water, and immediately felt much more sober.

After a while, Xiahou Dun came in with Yu Sheng.

"The last general, Yu Sheng, comes to see the general." Yu Sheng said with a solemn salute to Cao Cao.

"You and I are old acquaintances, and your general and I are also close friends, but now we are each his own. I wonder why he asked you to come here at this time?" Cao Cao sat on Hu's bed and looked at Yu Sheng asked with a smile.

"The general doesn't know, my lord only ordered the general to send the letter to the general." Yu Sheng took out the bamboo slip written by Chen Mo from his arms and handed it to Xiahou Dun aside, asking Xiahou Dun to give it to Cao Cao.

"Not bad." Cao Cao glanced at Yu Sheng with some appreciation. He also knew that Yu Sheng was usually taciturn and immersed himself in work. Now it seemed that he knew what he shouldn't ask and didn't ask random questions. He was a good subordinate.

Chen Mo sent a letter at this time, and Cao Cao was a little curious. Could it be that his little brother had just dealt with Yuan Shu, and now he was planning on him? Now unfold the bamboo slips and look.

Brother Meng De:

It has been more than a year since I went to the east gate to say goodbye. I miss you so much...

There are hundreds of words, most of which are recalling the carefree years in Luoyang. Only the last few sentences hit the point. Now Dong Zhuo has withdrawn his troops from Aocang and Xingyang, leaving only Xu Rong to garrison in Chenggao. In my humble opinion, if the leader of the alliance immediately sends troops to occupy the second city, he can advance, attack, retreat and defend, and he will be in an invincible position. I will try to find a pass to meet the army.

Cao Cao put down the bamboo slips, rubbed his temples, looked at Yu Sheng and said with a smile, "Does my wise brother have any other explanations?"

"Never." Yu Sheng shook his head.

"Go back and tell him that I already know. As for whether it will succeed or not, there is no guarantee!" Cao Cao said with a smile: "It's getting late now. Let's rest here for the night. It won't be too late to leave tomorrow."

"The general has military orders with him. Since the letter has been delivered, it is inconvenient to stay for a long time to avoid making it difficult for the general. I will leave here." Yu Sheng shook his head and stood up.

Upon hearing this, Cao Cao nodded and signaled the guards to send Yu Sheng out of the camp.

"Mengde, what was written in the letter?" Xiahou Dun looked at Cao Cao and asked curiously.

"My good brother wants to defect." Cao Cao sat on the bed, shook his head and said, "Go and invite Zhicai, and discuss anything with him."

"Okay." Xiahou Dun nodded, turned and left, and after a while, he brought Xi Zhicai.

"I'm really ashamed to call you here late at night." Cao Cao looked at Xi Zhicai and said with a smile.

"My lord summoned me, there must be something important." Xi Zhicai sat down, looked at Cao Cao and said with a smile.

"It doesn't count." Cao Cao handed the bamboo slip to Xi Zhicai. After he read it, he said: "You think, my good brother wants to clear his reputation, but now is it too late?"

Xi Zhicai put away the bamboo slips and asked with a smile, "My lord, have you ever heard that General Chen has done anything evil since he surrendered to Dong Zhuo?"

"That's not true. He even spoke upright and saved the lives of Mr. Yuan's family. Although he died unexpectedly in the end, this matter saved him a lot of reputation." Cao Cao said with a smile.

"I can be sure that this matter was spread by General Chen. Firstly, it was to force the two Generals Yuan to make up their mind, and secondly, it was to clear up his name." Xi Zhicai put down the bamboo slips and shook his head and said: "Actually, if my lord is more careful, he will After discovering what Chen Mo has been doing in Luoyang for more than a year, Zhongyuan will soon know about it. For example, the bandits in Pinghedong spoke up for justice several times, but were ostracized by Dong Zhuo and puzzled by the officials, but they have been working conscientiously for the court without any complaints. In addition, not long ago, the Luoyang scholars seemed to be defending Chen Mo, although it was only for a while. Time, but in fact, Chen Mo actually has no bad reputation in the Central Plains."

Cao Cao also reacted: "That kid has been building momentum for today?"

If not, why would it be that if there was any disturbance over there, it would spread immediately in the Central Plains?

Thinking about it this way, a lot of things make sense. Why, as Chen Mo's teacher, Zang Hong never said anything bad about Chen Mo, and the Chen family never seemed to worry about Chen Mo.

When Chen Deng left at that time, he probably had already made some agreement with Chen Mo.

"It's more than that!" Xi Zhicai pointed to the bamboo slips on the table and said with a smile, "If nothing else happens, this is just the beginning, and there will definitely be more good news coming in the future."

"He had expected this day!?" Xiahou Dun said in surprise.

"That's not necessarily the case. I'm afraid both sides are well prepared. If Dong Zhuo wins this battle, I'm afraid we won't be able to see this letter." Cao Cao shook his head and smiled: "Zhicai, you asked me to help you, should I help or not? help."

"Help, Chen Mo is now living in the east of the river. There is no conflict with the lord for the time being, but he can become an ally." Xi Zhicai smiled and said: "And even if there is no lord, don't forget that Zang Ziyuan is still here."

"Forget it, he owes me a meal!" Cao Cao nodded, took the bamboo slips and said with a smile, "I must let him make up for it next time!"