Vol 2 Chapter 2898: The army was distracted by civil strife, and Cao Ren was forcibly captured.

Chapter 2898: Civil strife encircled the army, and Cao Ren was forcibly surrendered (Part 2)

Chapter 2894: Civil strife encircled the army, and Cao Ren was forcibly surrendered (Part 2)

Anyone in Cao Cao's army can surrender, but Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Chun, Xiahou Dun, and Xia Houyuan, who grew up with Cao Cao and are not brothers but are better than brothers, theoretically speaking, are absolutely impossible to surrender. .

Among the above five people, Xiahou Dun and Xiahou Yuan have both died in the battle. Cao Hong also died in A Qing's assassination, leaving only Cao Ren and Cao Chun.

Jia Xu naturally knew that Cao Ren was unlikely to surrender, but he still spent so much thought and means, and went in such a big circle, to force him to surrender. Naturally, it was because Cao Ren's surrender had different meanings from other people's surrender.

Cao Ren's status among Cao Jun is second only to Cao Cao, Yin Shou and Le Yi, and on the same level as Cao Bin.

Now Le Yi has committed suicide, Cao Bin has been captured, and Cao Ren is the third-ranking figure in Cao Wei's army.

 In today's Cao Wei, the four wealthiest counties in the west have fallen, and the Yanzhou family is also defecting one after another. People's hearts are floating internally, and even clans like Cao Zhen and Cao Youwen have defected to Da Qin.

 At this time, if Cao Ren, as the third-ranking figure, led one hundred thousand Cao troops to surrender to Qin, it would undoubtedly be a fatal blow to Cao Wei's internal morale and confidence.

The generals and officials of the seven eastern counties of Wei saw that your cousin Cao Cao had surrendered to Qin, and he also surrendered with a hundred thousand troops. Then Cao Wei must have no future. With such a mentality, it is likely to cause A large number of high-level executives fled, which ultimately became the straw that broke the camel's back.

Great Qin originally disdained the use of such psychological tactics, because the Qin army, which had already occupied an absolute strategic advantage, could completely crush them with force.

But no one could have imagined that Cao Cao came up with a conspiracy in his desperate situation, using the population to shift blame as a scorched earth tactic, and this also hit the Qin army seven inches away, which not only greatly increased the Qin army's The logistical pressure of the army forced Ying Hao to temporarily suspend his attack on the eastern part of Yanzhou.

Originally, Ying Hao wanted to save some dignity for Cao Cao. After all, Cao Cao was also his father-in-law. But since Cao Cao was so unscrupulous and unethical, dragging people into the water to use as shields, then Ying Hao would naturally not give him any dignity.

Since Cao Cao's army of 100,000 soldiers was trapped in the isolated city, surrender was only a matter of time, so Ying Hao naturally wanted to maximize his interests.

Simply forcing the 100,000-strong army to surrender would obviously not be able to maximize the benefits. Only by allowing Cao Ren to personally lead the army to surrender could he truly achieve both murder and heart-wrenching, which is why Jia Xu's subsequent plan was born.

Burning the grain depot, forcing Li Da to death, and slandering Cao Youwen... were all just part of Jia Xu's plan.

Now Jia Xu's plan has reached the final step, which is to seize power and evacuate Cao Ren. This will be filled by Cao Zhen. As long as he can do it, he will be the second hero in forcing Cao Ren to surrender.

“General Cao Zhen, the Black Ice Platform has given you all the support that should be given to you, and the next step is for you.”

Ren Qianxing patted Cao Zhen on the shoulder, with a bewildering tone in his voice, and said: "After this is accomplished, whether it is to be a general and a marquis, or to be given gold and a title, it will be a piece of cake.

 The most important thing is that you can still get rid of the stigma and fully integrate into Da Qin. Whether you can grasp this huge wealth depends on you. "

I have to say that Ren Qianxing's words are quite tempting to Cao Zhen, but there is another concern in his heart that he really doesn't want to express.

"When this is done, I won't be the next Li Da and be abandoned by you, right?" Cao Zhen asked with a sneer.

 Cao Youwen was not incited to rebel in advance, so he did not know that Li Da's incident was a set-up. However, Cao Zhen knew Li Da's identity, and Li Da met such a tragic end. This naturally made Cao Zhen, who was also a traitor, very sad.

Hearing this, Ren Qianxing glanced sideways at Cao Zhen and said calmly: "You are different from Li Da.

Li Da is just an ordinary person. His position is so important that he is more useful when he is dead than when he is alive. This makes him qualified to devote himself to the unification of the Qin Dynasty. This is what he has cultivated in eight lifetimes. Blessing.

 As for you, Cao Zhen, you are more useful alive than dead, so you can live. "

Ren Qianxing's naked remarks made Cao Zhen extremely dissatisfied, and he said coldly: "Then can I think that if one day I am more useful dead than alive, Da Qin will not hesitate to let me die?"

Ren Qianxing took a deep look at Cao Zhen and said calmly: "If this day comes, I hope you won't trouble others and wipe your neck proactively.

 As a general, he is more useful in death than alive. What is the use of such a waste? I, Da Qin, do not collect garbage. "

"you…"

Although Cao Zhen was angry when he heard this, if he thought about it carefully, Ren Qianxing's words were not unreasonable.

Li Da's death was because his own value was too low, but after his death, the value of the impact it caused was extremely high. Under the imbalance of pros and cons, no matter who made the choice, he would definitely give up such a young man.

Cao Zhen is different. As a general of Cao Wei, the leader of the capitulation faction, and one of the leaders of Cao Wei's surrender in the future, unless he has lost his mind and seeks death, he will not be reduced to the point where death is worth more than life, and thus he is Da Qin gave up on his own initiative.

“I’d like to remind you that it’s not easy to get ahead in the Qin army. Incompetent people will be kicked out sooner or later. If you want to prove your worth, do it beautifully.”

After saying that, Ren Qianxing left without looking back, leaving Cao Zhen alone in his thoughts, and he gradually woke up after a while.

Looking at the direction Ren Qianxing was leaving, Cao Zhen's eyes showed a hint of determination. He had no way out. Whether he lived or died, he had no choice but to follow Da Qin's path to the dark side. In order to maintain his position in the Qin army in the future, this This time he must handle the tasks assigned by Jia Xu beautifully.

“I don’t have much time left, I have to contact the people on the list as soon as possible.”

The list left by Ren Qianxing is undoubtedly a great gift to Cao Zhen, but now the people on the list don't know each other. Cao Zhen must act as the connector to bring this scattered force together. At the same time, in the Chenliu Prefecture, Cao Ren was staring at the ceiling with his eyes blankly. Facing the desperate situation of no life or death, he was really about to despair.

 “Informing the Governor, Dong Zhao, Zheng Hun, and He Kui are here.”

Hearing this, Cao Ren was immediately shocked and said quickly: "Please come quickly."

 Dong Zhao was the prefect of Chenliu in Cao Wei, and his status among the civil servants of Cao Wei was second only to the five military advisors and Bigan Chen Qun;

Zheng Hun was the great-grandson of the famous Confucian Zheng Zhong and the younger brother of the famous scholar Zheng Tai. He was also a farmer's disciple. He served as the chief agricultural officer of Cao Wei and was responsible for the entire military and civilian villages in Yanzhou;

As for He Kui, he was born in the He family of Chen County and was the father of He Zeng, the Grand Prime Minister of the Western Jin Dynasty. He was originally a subordinate of Yuan Shu. After Yuan Shu's defeat, he defected to Cao Cao and held several positions. He currently serves as the captain of Henan.

 Although Dong Zhao, Zheng Hun, and He Kui were civil servants, they were all powerful men with military power.

Dong Zhao controls Chenliu County troops, Zheng Hun controls 5,000 field troops, and He Kui controls Henan County soldiers. Although the proportions of the military power of the three are not large, their total military power is not small.

Of course, Cao Ren summoned the three people together, not to appease the three people, but because he really had no choice now, so he hoped to let these three civil servants give him advice.

 Dong Zhao, Zheng Hun, and He Kui all grew up in Qiao County, and they have all shown loyalty before, so Cao Ren is not afraid that the three of them will rebel.

Dong Zhao and the others naturally knew the news that the grain depot was burned, but they did not know that Cao Hong had died in the battle, and that Cao Youwen and Cao Zhen had joined forces. After learning the whole story from Cao Ren, the three of them fell silent for a while, and obviously no one knew about it. To think that after just one night, the situation had become so bad.

After a long time, Zheng Hun broke the silence and was the first to speak: "Grand Governor, although your quick wit has saved some food and grass, this is already a desperate situation. Once the food is exhausted, our army will collapse on its own."

"How can we wait until the food is exhausted? Before the food is exhausted, the generals below will come to ask for an explanation. Once they learn that the grain depot has been burned, the morale of the army will definitely be lost. There will be no need for the Qin army to invade. The generals below will come to ask for explanations." We kidnapped him and left the city to surrender," He Kui said with a bitter smile.

Cao Ren naturally knew this, so he had no responsibility to pursue Cao Youwen for the time being, because if the army was not pacified, everything that followed would be meaningless.

“I wonder if these three gentlemen have any strategies to teach me?”

Cao Ren looked like he was asking for advice humbly, but Zheng Hun and He Kui looked at each other, and they obviously didn't seem to have any solution. Only Dong Zhao kept his head down in thought, and he didn't know what he was thinking.

In this regard, Cao Ren could only place his hopes on Dong Zhao, and Dong Zhao did not disappoint him. After a long silence, he said: "Grand Governor, Zhao has a plan, which may delay it for a while, but it is just Drinking poison will quench thirst, so Zhao wants to know how far the Governor wants to go in this losing battle."

If others ask this, Cao Ren may not tell the truth, but he has been in agreement with Dong Zhao for more than ten years, and his trust in Dong Zhao is no less than that of Cao Hong, so he said truthfully: "I dare not seek victory, nor dare I seek survival. , we can only try to buy more time for the main attack.”

Dong Zhao nodded happily after hearing this, and when Cao Ren saw this, he waved Zheng Hun and He Kui to leave, leaving the two of them alone to talk in detail in the hall.

"If the underground grain depot is burned, you must give an explanation to the generals. The governor must not sit back and wait for death, waiting for the generals to come to the door. He should turn his passivity into an initiative, take the initiative to summon the generals of the army to explain, and inform the generals that the fire has It was put out in time, and the food saved now is enough for one month, so that he can feel at ease. "

Hearing Dong Zhao's words, Cao Ren asked in confusion: "I know that passive is active, but the food that has been rescued so far is not enough for ten days. Even if we include the food that has not been dug out, I am afraid that it will not last for ten days." Not enough for half a month.

 How can we explain to the generals if we cannot produce so much food? "

"We use sand to fill the grain, first fool the generals, and then kill the chickens to scare the monkeys. We will attack Cao Youwen and Cao Zhen, so as to frighten the other generals and make them fearful and dare not move. Only in this way can we persist until we finish eating the grain. "

Hearing Dong Zhao's words, Cao Ren couldn't help but clapped his legs and exclaimed. Why didn't he think of it? As long as he was confident enough and put on a good front, the generals would not care about the situation. They would wait until they had withstood this disaster first.

 “Just do as sir said.” Cao Ren said solemnly.

Later, Cao Ren took the initiative to summon all the generals in the army and said that he wanted to inform about the burning of the grain depot. In addition to Cao Youwen, Cao Youwan, and Cao Bing, Cao Zhen, Cao Yun, Cao Can, Yang Xun, Yan Ming, and Linghu Shao , Dong Zhao, Zheng Hun, He Kui and other civil and military officials were all present.

Seeing that Cao Youwen, Cao Youwan, and Cao Bing didn't come, Cao Ren's heart suddenly sank.

Cao Youwan had a broken hand. He didn't come, which was still expected by Cao Ren. But Cao Youwen and Cao Bing didn't come either. They were already ready to fall out with him.

 “Damn traitor.”

Cao Ren cursed secretly in his heart, but on the surface he remained calm. He then publicly stated that the granary had been attacked by the Qin army. This statement naturally caused an uproar.

Chenliudu is already an isolated city, and now all the food and grass have been burned. How can they persist? For a moment, pessimism spread throughout the audience.

Cao Zhen looked at this scene with a sneer. He had thought that Cao Ren would hide it, but he didn't expect that Cao Ren would blow himself up. But this was good, it would save him trouble.

 “Cao Ren, you made a wrong move.” Cao Zhen thought to himself.

 (End of this chapter)