Chapter 375: Temporarily Borrowing Hanzhong, Ma Chao's Heart At the end of June in the seventh year of Jian'an, Cao Cao's eldest son Cao Ang led his army and was trapped in Wancheng. He failed to break out and was defeated and died. In this battle, Cao's 40,000-strong army was completely wiped out. Generals Cao Ren, Li Dian, Lu Qian, and Cao Xiu died in succession, strategists Xun You and Zhu Ling were captured, and countless others were killed or wounded. This battle also cost the allied forces of Qin Zhen and Guan Yu more than 10,000 soldiers and horses, with countless casualties, and they needed some time to rest and recuperate. At the same time, Liu Bei, who was far away in Hanzhong, also took a temporary rest because the ownership of Hanzhong still needed to be defined. Originally, before this battle, Liu Bei marched into Hanzhong on the pretext of helping Liu Zhang attack Zhang Lu. However, after Hanzhong was captured, Pang Tong, Liu Ye and others suggested that they should not withdraw their troops. Even Fa Zheng, who was sent by Liu Zhang, suggested that Liu Bei take advantage of the situation to attack Wu Yi and seize control of the entire Hanzhong. After all, Hanzhong was a key location for entering Guanzhong and Yizhou at that time. Controlling this place meant that they had the initiative. However, Liu Bei disagreed with this. It was not a question of reputation, but he personally could not accept defection. Because in his opinion, Liu Zhang had done his utmost to treat him, and he could not repay hatred with hatred, as this was not in line with his principles as a human being.

So after discussion, everyone decided to temporarily station troops in Nanzheng and send an envoy south to discuss with Liu Zhang about temporarily borrowing Hanzhong. After they capture and defeat Cao Cao and welcome the emperor, they will return Hanzhong to Liu Zhang. Of course, whether they return it by then is another matter. In short, the envoy set out at the end of June and arrived in Chengdu in mid-July, where he met Liu Zhang. At this time, Liu Zhang did not know about Liu Bei's victory in the east. When he heard that Zhang Lu and Cao Cao were defeated, he was very happy. But when he heard that Liu Bei wanted to borrow Hanzhong temporarily, he fell into hesitation. He was weak, but not stupid. Hanzhong is the gateway to Yizhou. Before, there was a Zhang Lu who was already a great threat to him. Now Liu Bei wants to occupy it, could it be another Zhang Lu? So he called everyone together to discuss the matter. Huang Quan and Wang Lei saw an opportunity and urged Liu Zhang to switch sides and drive Liu Bei out of Hanzhong. Because the main force in this battle was Liu Bei's army, although Cao Cao was defeated, Liu Bei suffered heavy casualties and had less than 30,000 soldiers left. In contrast, Wu Yi occupied various strategic locations and had more than 40,000 soldiers and horses, and was fully capable of driving Liu Bei out of Hanzhong. However, when Zhang Song heard what the two said, he said to Liu Zhang: "The two of you are talking about alienating the righteousness of the clan and encouraging the power of the bandits. It is of no benefit to the lord." "Liu Zhengdong has over hundreds of thousands of troops and his reputation is known far and wide. He is helping our army to get rid of Zhang Lu and force Cao Cao to retreat. This is truly a righteous act. Although he has occupied Hanzhong, he has not robbed it. This is truly a benevolent act." "Although we have sent an envoy to borrow Hanzhong temporarily, it is only to eliminate the bandits. How can we turn against them and attack them, occupy Hanzhong by force, and lose the trust of the world?" "So in my opinion, it is better to borrow it first, and then ask for it back after defeating the enemy. Otherwise, if we chase away tens of thousands of soldiers now, they will have hundreds of thousands tomorrow." "Although our army is in a strategic location, it is still inferior to Cao Cao. How can we resist the whole world with just one state? I hope you will think twice before acting and do not listen to the words of the treacherous flatterers!" After all, it is still a question of strength comparison. Liu Bei no longer has only half of Jingzhou as in the original history. Now Liu Bei's power is the best in the world. If you provoke Liu Bei now, or choose to refuse to lend Hanzhong, you will have to consider whether you can withstand Liu Bei's all-out attack in the future! And there is another thing. Even Cao Cao was chased and beaten by Liu Bei. They couldn't even beat Cao Cao, so how could they beat Liu Bei? As soon as these words came out, Huang Quan and Wang Lei naturally scolded Zhang Song for selling out his master for fame. After considering the pros and cons, Liu Zhang directly said to everyone: "Zi Qiao is right. Xuande and I are from the same clan. Now that we have formed a brotherly alliance, I should help you with all my strength. I have made up my mind, so please do not go against my words." When King Huang Quan heard this, he kowtowed and tried to remonstrate with death, but Liu Zhang turned a deaf ear to him. After meeting with Liu Bei's envoy, he ordered him to return and said that Hanzhong could be lent to Liu Bei temporarily. After receiving the letter, the envoy was overjoyed and hurried from Chengdu to Hanzhong to explain all the matters and asked Liu Bei to move his troops to Nanzheng. By this time, it was already August, and the arrival of autumn did not improve the situation in Guanzhong. Ever since Cao Cao returned to Chang'an, he has been bedridden.

Except Xun Yu and Guo Jia, no outsiders were allowed to enter the mansion. So rumors spread that Cao Cao had died of illness, but Guo Jia and others were blocking the news. The spread of this rumor naturally caused panic among all the civil and military officials in the court. After all, this rumor was not groundless. Because since Cao Cao's return, a series of bad news has been reported in Chang'an. Cao Cao was defeated, and Xiahou Yuan and others died in Hanzhong. Cao Cao had been bedridden and was apparently in a terminal state. News also came from the east that Cao Ang and Cao Ren had died in battle. Even a normal person would find it difficult to accept this news, let alone Cao Cao who was half dead. Cao Cao's lack of reaction proved that he was dead. Although all civil and military officials were afraid of Cao Cao's power, when they knew that Cao Cao was really going to die of illness, a large number of Han officials came to the Sikong Mansion to visit him. Among them were Yang Biao, Kong Rong, Zhao Wen and other officials who were at loggerheads with Cao Cao. They really did not want Cao Cao to die of illness. The reason is simple, because Cao Cao is the pillar of the court. Without Cao Cao, no one knows what kind of chaos will happen. However, there were some very happy officials among the civil and military officials, such as Jin Yi, Wei Huang, Geng Ji, and Fu Wan, the father-in-law of Fu Guo. However, Fu Wan was ordered to eliminate Cao at the beginning of the year, and since then he has been secretly contacting his accomplices, thereby getting help from everyone, and also contacting Ma Teng, Han Sui and others. As a result, as soon as the letter was sent, news came that Cao Cao had returned, which made Fu Wan panic for a while, fearing that the matter would be exposed again. But what he didn't expect was that Cao Cao was already in a low health state when he returned this time. Not only did he lose his former strength, but he also failed to stop the rumors he spread. This made Fu Wan suddenly more confident. Seeing that Ma Teng and Han Sui had not replied, he sent people to find Geng Ji and others outside the city to discuss: "In the past, Wan and the others conspired to defeat Cao Cao. We originally intended to recruit Ma Teng and Han Sui to come to the capital to defend the king, but we did not expect that the two of them have not replied to our army's letter until now." "Fortunately, Cao is now seriously ill. We cannot afford to indulge in such a godsend opportunity, so we invite you to come and discuss what to do." Everyone was excited at this time, and felt that great things were to come, but no one had a specific idea of ​​how to proceed. Only Jin Yi said: "In today's situation, it is better to slow down rather than rush. Although Cao Cao is critically ill, he is not dead after all. I will wait and not act rashly." But as soon as he spoke, Geng Ji said, "Now that the rumor that Cao Cao is dead has spread all over the city, what can we not do? We should act quickly." "I see that Ma Teng and Han Sui have not replied to my letter. Perhaps they are unaware of the affairs of the court. We can send another messenger to lure them over. They will surely come." "Besides, Ma Chao is in Chang'an now. Why should we go to the faraway place instead of the near one? We can send an envoy to contact Ma Teng and others while sending someone to contact Ma Chao." "If Ma Chao can help us, we will not only have soldiers, but also generals. Once Ma Teng arrives, we can accomplish great things." Jin Yi was naturally displeased when he saw this, but Fu Wan was delighted when he heard this and said, "Ji Xing's plan is feasible. We should first win over Ma Chao, but who is willing to be the envoy?" Among the crowd, besides Fu Wan, Wei Huang had the highest official position, and he immediately said, "I can do this." So after everyone agreed, Wei Huang hosted a banquet and invited Ma Chao to the banquet, intending to take the opportunity to test Ma Chao. It is also said that Ma Chao was a descendant of General Ma Yuan, who was a nobleman for generations. He came from a famous family and was a good commander with great courage and strength, so he was also called Jin Ma Chao. In the original story, Cao Cao recruited Ma Chao to be an official several times, but Ma Chao refused. However, in this life, he served Cao Cao as a hostage. He originally wanted to do something great after entering the court, so he was loyal and diligent at first. As a result, he didn't expect that Cao Cao's life was at the peak after he conquered Liang Province, but after he joined, his life started to go downhill. It would have been fine if they had been defeated in the Battle of Guandu, but they also lost in the Battle of Hanzhong. Now, even the last few counties in the Central Plains have been seized. Seeing that Cao Cao was gradually getting worse, Ma Chao became depressed. It was not because he was depressed because Cao was critically ill, but because he felt that he was born at the wrong time. Because he had been good at fighting since he was young, he wanted to do something big. However, when he just came of age, the world had already been conquered by many warlords.

Now at the age of twenty-six, although he has been granted the title of marquis, he is only a lieutenant general and is still far from the achievements of his ancestor General Fubo. Right now, Liu Bei and Yuan Shao are the only two powerful families in the world. It would take a few more years for him to switch to someone else again. The gap between his ideal and reality made him depressed, and he had been drinking alone in his house for days. When he received Wei Huang's invitation that day, he came without thinking much. As for the meeting in the mansion, Wei Huang invited her to the back hall to drink, and asked the beautiful maid to come forward to serve. After three rounds of wine, he smiled and said: "I heard that the Sikong fought in Hanzhong. The general has made outstanding achievements in the battle and will be promoted sooner or later, so I held a banquet to congratulate him first." He said this to test Ma Chao's mental state at the moment and to see if Ma Chao had any rebellious intentions. When Ma Chao heard this, he felt that the beautiful maid in front of him was colorless and the wine was tasteless, so he simply pushed the wine to the ground. Wei Huang saw this and asked Ma Chao why he was like this. Ma Chao looked at him coldly and said in a deep voice: "Sir, are you kidding me? What military achievements have I made? I was only defeated. I have not been charged with any crime. How can I be promoted?" This is also the most depressing thing for him now. He tried his best in the Battle of Hanzhong. Even if he did not make any contribution, he had worked hard. However, due to two military defeats, he was deprived of his military power after returning to Chang'an. He has been idle in the city until now, and naturally he feels uncomfortable. If Wei Huang mentioned it now, it would be like exposing his scars, making him lose interest. However, Wei Huang was secretly delighted when he saw it, and hurriedly pretended to be surprised and said: "Since you entered Cao Gong's army, you have made many outstanding achievements. Even if you have suffered a minor defeat, you should still be rewarded. Isn't Cao Gong's behavior unclear about rewards and punishments?" This was exactly what Ma Chao wanted to say. He was no longer angry, but said with an indignant look on his face: "Who says it's not true? I have made many contributions. Even though I was defeated today, I am still following orders." "How could I have expected that Guo Jia repeatedly advised me against it, which prevented me from achieving my goal. How despicable!" "Lord Cao is also old and confused, but he actually agreed to his words. I don't know what he is thinking!" Seeing that he was dissatisfied, Wei Huang hurriedly got down from his seat and personally poured wine for Ma Chao, saying: "Having said that, Guo Fengxiao has the trust of Cao Gong, so he can only let it go." Seeing that he was respectful in his words and actions, Ma Chao picked up the cup and waited until it was full before saying: "I will let him live in peace for a few days. Once Cao Gong dies, I will kill him!" Having said this, he drank the wine in one gulp, but Wei Huang suddenly raised his head and said: "But if Lord Cao is not dead, what should the general do?" Ma Chao was stunned when he heard this, and then he said with a fierce look: "If Cao Gong is not dead, I will kill Guo Jia and then go to Xiliang!" (End of this chapter)