Chapter 192 Zheng Xuan's resentment and Cao Cao's doubt about life On the other side, Liu Ye and Guo Jia were evenly matched in the fight, while Cao Cao hid during the day and moved out at night, and finally arrived at the city of Xinping. However, it is said that when Liu Chong was attacked that day, Zheng Xuan was left in the State of Chen by Liu Ye. For several days, he could only hear the fierce fighting in the south. Since he was here, he looked after Liu Chong's injuries every day. No one knew what kind of poison arrow Zhang Kai used, but after being poisoned, Liu Chong fell into a coma and could not eat even rice or porridge. He was fed some rice porridge every day, but he would vomit most of it in the middle of the night, and the rice porridge was all gray and black in color. Seeing that his complexion was getting worse and worse, and fearing that he had no strength to rise again, all his subordinates were filled with grief, and sighs could be heard every day. Seeing this, one of his disciples named Xi Lu called a group of fellow disciples to come to Zheng Xuan and said: "Now that Prince Chen has been assassinated, it is all due to Yuan Shu's threat. It has nothing to do with us!" "I heard that Liu Ye is a subordinate of Liu Bei. I don't know why he is stationed here." "Yuan Shu assassinated the king and also plotted against the State of Chen!" "The State of Chen is the border of three states. If this continues, disaster will surely ensue."

"The left and right Zheng divisions were ordered by the imperial court to serve as officials. Why don't they go to the imperial court to avoid disaster before it happens?" He was originally from Shanyang, Yanzhou, and his hometown was under the rule of Cao Cao. This time, he followed Zheng Xuan into the court, naturally hoping to get a position under Cao Cao. I never thought that I would be stopped in the territory of Chen State. Seeing Xuchang and wealth and glory just around the corner, he certainly couldn't help himself. But when Zheng Xuan heard this, he gave him a cold look and said: "I am a citizen of the Han Dynasty. I am here at the Emperor's order, and I should put state affairs first." "Now the King of Chen is in trouble with the bandits. The bandits came from me. How can you say that I have nothing to do with it?" "Even if this didn't happen, the Central Plains is in such a mess right now. Liu Xuande was ordered by the emperor to fight against the rebels and stabilize the situation in Huainan. Now, helping King Chen to defend the land is a righteous act!" "Since he has not yet led his troops here, he asked Liu Ziyang to find me and stay here. We are here to help the cause, not to avoid disaster." "I think you are afraid of Yuan Shu's military might and dare not resist him!" "If you want to avoid disaster, you can go by yourselves. I can stay here alone!" "If you can escape this disaster, you can go and answer the call in the future." "If you can't escape this, you can die here. That's my wish!" Master Zheng is an old and experienced man, how could he not know his disciple's wish? Seeing that they wanted to leave, he naturally let them decide for themselves. In short, he would not leave until this matter was over. Although Zheng Xuan is already 72 years old, his prestige among his disciples is extremely high. When everyone heard this, they immediately bowed down and said that they dared not abandon their teacher. Upon seeing this, Zheng Xuan naturally stopped blaming him and ordered his disciples to help stabilize the situation. He also asked his disciple Gongsun Fang to go out personally to help Liu Chong find the miracle doctor Hua Tuo.

Unexpectedly, before Hua Tuo arrived, news about Liu Ye came from the south. He said that Cao Cao had already sent out troops and might launch a surprise attack on Yangxia, so he asked them to go to Xinping first to avoid disaster. Upon hearing the news, Xi Lu and others were overjoyed, thinking that Cao Cao was the representative of the court, and Master Zheng should be willing to go this time. He then hurriedly asked Zheng Xuan to leave the State of Chen and go south to join Cao Cao. However, when Zheng Xuan heard the news that Cao Cao had sent troops, he became angry and said: "Prince Chen has been assassinated, but the State of Chen is under the jurisdiction of Yuzhou. With Liu Xuande here, we can eliminate the threat from Yuan Shu!" "How dare Cao Cao, as the Minister of Works, invade other people's land?" "They must not have submitted a memorial to the emperor first. Although they have arrived in Chen, they are a private army." "I have received orders from the emperor, how can I go along with him?" "If he comes to reinforce us, it's fine. But if he comes to attack the city, it will be a serious crime. How can we surrender to him?" By now, Zheng Xuan had seen clearly that the land of Chen State was a piece of fat meat in the eyes of the three families. Whether it was Yuan Shu, Liu Bei, or Cao Cao, they all wanted to get this land. But in his opinion, as the governor of Yuzhou, even if something happened to the State of Chen, it would be Liu Bei's problem. It would be a good thing if Liu Bei could eliminate Yuan Shu and stabilize the overall situation of the State of Chen. Even if Liu Bei could not eliminate Yuan Shu, he should have submitted a petition to the court first, so that Cao Cao would have the right to send troops. As a result, now that Liu Chong has just gotten into trouble, Liu Bei is still trying to stabilize the situation. Why are you, Cao Cao, interfering? This clearly shows that they do not take the imperial court and the emperor seriously, and are only concerned with conquering cities and expanding their own power. In contrast, although Liu Bei let Liu Ye garrison in Chen State, he was determined to let Liu Ye stabilize the situation in Chen State and was not in a hurry to attack Chen State at all. Comparing the two, it is easy to tell who respects the emperor more and who is better able to support the Han Dynasty between Liu Bei and Cao Cao! Zheng Xuan was also a die-hard Han Dynasty loyalist. Seeing this, he disliked Cao Cao even more and directly warned his disciples: "I know that you have completed your studies and are ready to enter the government. Now that you see that Cao Cao is powerful, you want to curry favor with the rich and powerful!" "But Cao Cao does not respect the emperor or the law, I don't want to follow him!" "If you want to go and seek refuge, go ahead. But from today onwards, do not declare yourself as my disciple, Zheng Xuan!" He said this in a very serious manner, and all the disciples were terrified when they heard it. Even if they can enter officialdom now, it is only because of their title as Zheng Xuan's disciples. If Zheng Xuan kicked him out in anger, he would never be able to hold his head up anywhere, let alone become an official. As a result, everyone lowered their heads and kept silent, and no longer dared to mention the matter of surrendering to Cao Cao. In this way, Zheng Xuan managed to stabilize the overall situation in Yangxia and followed the troops all the way towards Xinping. As for Xinping City, the situation was stabilized after the handover to Liang Xi sent by Luo Jun. After living in peace for a few days, they heard the news that Cao Cao's troops were approaching Chen County. Seeing this, Zheng Xuan thought that Cao Cao was really going too far. If he allowed him to go outside the city, he would definitely scold him severely.

Under such circumstances, Cao Cao quietly came to the city of Xinping, unaware that Master Zheng in the city was already dissatisfied with him. Taking advantage of the cover of night, he saw that the city was heavily guarded, so he said to Xun You: "The enemy is on high alert now, so we can't act rashly. I wonder if Gongda has any good ideas?" When Xun You heard this, he advised Cao Cao: "Liu Chong cannot take charge at the moment, and the enemy general may not have any strategy." "You can take advantage of the night when the enemy is least prepared and call one army to attack the west gate, and another army to feint an attack on the east gate. Then my lord, attack from the north gate, and this city will fall!" When Cao Cao heard what he said, he ordered Li Dian to lead troops to fight, and asked Yu Jin to make a feint attack. He personally led Xu Chu to take the city from the east. As soon as the army entered the city, news spread into the city that an army was coming from the west and was seeking a battle outside the city. When Lu Kai heard this, he was furious and said: "It must be Cao Cao who is leading his troops here. Since he has come from afar, his soldiers and horses are exhausted, but he comes to fight. Isn't that deceiving me?" After saying this, he wanted to lead his troops out of the city to fight Cao Cao. But after Liang Xi received Liu Ye's order, he had been on guard against Cao's attack. Seeing that Cao Cao did not launch a surprise attack but was seeking a battle, he felt something was wrong and hurriedly advised Lu Kai: "Cao's army has come from afar, and they haven't even set up camp yet. How can we ask for a fight?" "It must be a trick of the enemy. There may be an ambush outside the city!" "A general is the commander of an army. He should put the king first. How can he show off his bravery?" Although Lu Kai was not very strategic, he was loyal. After hearing his advice about Liu Chong, he naturally gave up the idea of ​​leaving the city and said: "I am not trying to show off my bravery, but now that the king has been assassinated, the army is leaderless. If we don't fight, the morale will drop, which will be disadvantageous to the army!" Liang Xi also secretly felt that this made sense, but he acted prudently, and after thinking for a moment, he said to Lu Kai: "General, what you said makes sense, but it is night time now, so we should not go out lightly." "Why not just endure tonight and wait until tomorrow to find out the enemy's situation and then fight. It won't be too late!" Seeing that he spoke sincerely, Lu Kai didn't want to say anything more and just kept silent. Outside the city, Li Dian received Cao Cao's military order and started shouting and cursing. Seeing that the enemy troops did not move, he hurriedly ordered his men to report the news to Cao Cao. At this time, Cao Cao had just arrived at the north gate and heard the news. He said to Xun You: "The enemy army cannot bear it, can our army fight?" When Xun You heard this, he smiled and said to Cao Cao: "Our army wanted to fight, but the enemy feared a trick and refused to fight. This was not unexpected." "Since we want to lure him out, let General Yu Jin first call out not to attack at the East Gate, and then make a feint attack when the enemy arrives at the East Gate." "When the enemy can't figure out where we are coming from, we can attack from the north gate!" "If the enemy troops are dispersed on both sides, the north and south will be empty, and we may succeed!" Upon hearing this, Cao Cao acted according to his plan as usual. He did not retreat his troops from the west gate and instead launched a feint attack at the east gate. Lu Kai and his companions were on the city wall when they suddenly heard loud shouting from the east gate. They were all startled for a moment. After thinking for a while, Lu Kai said to Liang Xi: "Zi Yu's words are indeed correct. The enemy is seeking a fight at the west gate, hoping to lure our troops out to fight and take the city from the east gate!" "There are cries of killing coming from the east gate. It must be the enemy attacking the city. Follow me to reinforce this gate!"

As he said this, he was about to lead his troops to the east. When Liang Xi saw this, he thought that Cao Cao was cunning. How come the East Gate was already built when the West Gate was not yet completed? After thinking for a while, he did not dare to conclude that the east gate was the main attack point, so he suggested to Lu Kai: "General, go and reinforce the east gate, and leave some troops with me to coordinate here!" Seeing how cautious he was, Lu Kai nodded in agreement, left more than a thousand soldiers and horses with Liang Xi, and marched eastward with his troops. Unexpectedly, when he arrived at the east gate of the city, he heard shouting and killing outside the city, but no soldiers were seen attacking the city. Suddenly, a shout of killing was heard from the north, and he immediately reacted and shouted: "Oh no, I've fallen into the enemy's trap!" After saying this, he was about to lead his troops to retreat to the north, but unexpectedly, Yu Jin ordered an attack, and thousands of soldiers and horses rushed towards the city. Lu Kai was stunned for a moment as he watched the enemy army coming towards him, unable to understand their tactics. At this time, Cao Cao had already launched a full-scale attack in the north, and his elite guards were heading towards the city. These tiger guards were originally composed of swordsmen from all over the place, and their fighting power was extremely terrifying. Facing the rain of arrows from the city, they fought their way to the top of the wall and were unstoppable. Cao Cao was overjoyed when he saw this from the foot of the city. He smiled and said to Xun You: "Thanks to Gongda's brilliant plan, if we attack the city right now, the city will surely be taken by our army!" Xun You was stroking his beard and laughing as he looked at the situation on the city wall. But at this moment, he suddenly heard a loud shout from inside the city: "Cao's army has fallen into our trap. Quickly fight with me out of the city and defeat Cao's army!" As soon as this voice was heard, the city gate opened and a large number of soldiers and horses rushed out. At the same time, there were endless shouts in the city. Cao Cao was shocked when he saw this: "How can the enemy have a plan?" In a trance, he heard the shouting and killing sounds from the city became louder. Seeing the enemy army rushing out of the city, he felt bad and shouted hurriedly: "Withdraw, stop fighting, withdraw quickly!" Following his shout, the tiger guards retreated to the foot of the city and moved towards the rear. The troops did not stop until there was no more shouting and killing from the rear. After arranging the troops, Cao Cao was surprised to see that there were no pursuers behind him. He said to Xun You: "Since the enemy had set up an ambush, why didn't you pursue them?" When Xun You heard this, he frowned for a moment and said in a deep voice: "Oh no! Our army has fallen into an enemy trap. The enemy might have been trying to trick us just now!" Cao Cao reacted immediately. They came here for a surprise attack. If the enemy found anything unusual, they would have set up an ambush long ago. How could they set up an ambush inside the city? Now the enemy is not pursuing, probably because the defending general does not have many soldiers! Thinking of this, he led his troops towards Xinping again. As for the city, they saw that the city gates were closed and a large number of soldiers were lined up on the city walls waiting.

Seeing this, Cao Cao pointed at the city and sighed: "I was careless for a moment and ended up falling into the enemy's trap, missing the chance to break into the city. This is really wrong!" Xun You saw this and shook his head and sighed: "It seems that there are capable people in this city. We can't break it hastily!" Judging from the opponent's performance just now, he could judge that his strategy was most likely successful. The defenders in the city had fallen into his trap, but the moment he realized he had been tricked, he did not resist, but chose to open the door to trick them. This shows that this man is very smart and can make important decisions. Sometimes a clever strategy only works once, but not the second time. Now that they have missed the best opportunity to attack the city, and there is such a capable person in the city, it will be even more difficult to capture Xinping! In desperation, he had to persuade Cao Cao to stop fighting and first find out who the defenders in the city were. So on the next day, their spies reported the identities of the people guarding the city. Only then did Cao Cao realize that the only general guarding the city was Lu Kai, but there was an unknown county magistrate named Liang Xi under his command. Xinping was indeed almost breached yesterday, but Liang Xi saw that he could not resist, so he directly ordered his soldiers to urge the people to shout under the city, and he rushed out with more than a thousand soldiers and horses. This created the appearance that there were ambushes in the city, thus tricking them into retreating. Hearing the news from the spy, Cao Cao doubted his life and said: "How could the big-eared thief have such virtue and ability to have so many talented people to assist him?" It’s fine that there is a Liu Ye in Chen County, but where did this Liang Xi come from! Why does it feel like after Qin Zhen surrendered, Liu Bei has more and more talented people under his command? (End of this chapter)