Chapter 204: Fighting for marriage, big increase [Subscription required]

In July, the weather is extremely hot.

It has been several days since Yecheng was attacked.

In Chang'an, after receiving the news, the emperor held secret discussions with Fu Jia, Yang Feng, Dong Cheng and other close ministers for several days.

"…According to the advice of all the ministers, I will send out my imperial edict to General Cao."

"Your Majesty, have you really decided to move the capital back to Luoyang?"

Fu Shou is already fifteen years old, and there is a bit more charm between her eyebrows and eyes.

After Emperor Liu Xie discussed matters with his ministers, he came to the viewing lake in the palace and watched the blooming lotus flowers with Fu Shou.

"Chang'an is too far from the core states of the Han Dynasty. I will return to Luoyang and everything will be fine."

The emperor looked at Fu Shou and said, "It was you, my beloved concubine, who first proposed to move the capital. This will bring us closer to all parties and give us more opportunities."

Fu Shou whispered, "I just feel that Your Majesty has been wronged. Even moving the capital requires asking Cao Mengde for permission."

"These tyrannical officials have no respect for heaven and earth, the emperor or their fathers. According to the law, they should be executed along with their entire family."

Liu Xie said nothing and looked into the distance.

He believed that one day he would be able to restore imperial power.

The emperor said, "My beloved concubine, please be careful with your words in this palace."

Fu Shou said unconcernedly, "Don't worry, Your Majesty. The palace has been purged more than once by my Fu clan. Whether it's Yanzhou or Jizhou, they won't know the news I don't want to reveal."

The emperor shook his head slightly:

"He rushed to Yecheng and dealt a heavy blow to the Yuan family. You know how shaken the world has been in the past half month. My beloved concubine, be careful of someone turning to Yanzhou again."

"Yanzhou's momentum is at its peak, even Jizhou is suppressed by it. We must be patient and wait for the opportunity."

Fu Shou hummed and looked at the emperor.

The emperor is good at forbearance, young but thoughtful. If given the chance, he will definitely be a good emperor... Fu Shou thought to himself.

"Let's talk to Yanzhou about the marriage as well and see Cao Mengde's attitude."

……

After Cao Cao attacked Yecheng, he did not rush back to Yanzhou.

He came to the territory of Zhang Yan of the Black Mountain Army, which was adjacent to the Hanoi camp, to take a temporary rest.

Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao and other main generals were all nearby, gathering together for an audience.

In the half month after Cao Cao's surprise attack on Jizhou, the situation in Henei was also changing.

Henei belonged to Sizhou, stretching north of the Yellow River. It also bordered Yanzhou, Bingzhou, and Jizhou, making it a strategic location.

Especially Henei and Yuan Shao’s Jizhou base camp Yecheng, can be described as being within easy reach.

If Yuan Shao controlled Henei, he could unite with Henei and attack the Black Mountain Army in the middle.

The Montenegrin army will have to move or be eaten.

Once Yuan Shao swallowed up the Black Mountain Army’s garrison and connected it with Henei and Jizhou, Cao Cao’s defense range along the Yellow River would be extended by more than times.

Yuan Shao could cross the river from any point along the route and launch attacks on Yanzhou and Sizhou, and even threaten Cao Cao's control over Chang'an.

If Cao Cao occupied Henei, he could gain an important bridgehead on the north bank of the Yellow River.

The threat to Jizhou is equally great.

So Hanoi is a must-fight place.

For the past half month, Cao Cao has been stationed in the Black Mountain Army camp in person to put pressure on Henei and cut off its connection with Jizhou.

Previously, Zhang Liao wanted to ambush the Jizhou army here, but was discovered by Jizhou in time and the attack failed.

After Cao Cao stationed in the Black Mountain Camp, the Jizhou army realized that they had lost their opportunity and withdrew back to Jizhou.

Before Dong Zhao joined Cao's camp at his own expense, he worked under Zhang Yang in Hanoi.

At present, Dong Zhao is on a diplomatic mission to Hanoi on behalf of Yanzhou.

He is a man with great methods, strategies and means.

He went to Hanoi and saw that Zhang Yang did not want to surrender to Yanzhou, so he immediately won over a general under Zhang Yang, named Yang Chou!
The two men discussed secretly, and the condition that Dong Zhao gave to Yang Chou was that Yanzhou was willing to support you to become the boss.

This is what happened simultaneously when Cao Cao captured Xia Pi.

Yang Chou was quite tempted, but hesitant because the risk was too great.

It was not until Cao Cao attacked Jizhou and captured Yuan Shao's entire family that he turned back and cut off the passage between Henei and Jizhou and stationed his troops in the Black Mountain Army's camp.

Yang Choucai made up his mind.

He took advantage of an opportunity to get close to Zhang Yang and stabbed him to death, and then announced that Hanoi would join Yanzhou.

When Dong Zhao brought the news, Cao Cao had just returned from attacking Ye City and was overjoyed.

Dong Zhao was a man of great talent. When he refused to surrender, he encouraged the second son to kill the eldest son and supported the second son in his rebellion.

This is an old trick, but it has been tried and tested and works wonders no matter when you use it.

If that doesn’t work, encourage the third brother, and so on.

Yanzhou occupied the strategic location of Hanoi without losing a single soldier.

However, Cao Cao was happy for only two days before he received the latest news.

As soon as Yang Chou came to power, he was killed by Sui Gu, another general under Zhang Yang, who tried to seize power.

Sui Gu was a staunch anti-Cao faction and wanted to surrender to Jizhou.

Fortunately, Cao Cao entered the Black Mountain Army camp and cut off the connection between Henei and Jizhou.

After killing Yang Chou, Sui Gu did not dare to stay in Hanoi for long. He took his troops and wanted to bypass the Black Mountain Army’s base and enter Jizhou.

He was then chased and killed by Cao's army.

This series of changes was the result of the game between Jizhou and Yanzhou and their mutual instigation of rebellion.

It happened several times in just half a month.

After Yuan Shao was attacked, he was obviously really angry and launched a series of deployments against Yanzhou. Fortunately, Dong Zhao was in Hanoi and persuaded the garrison to surrender to Yanzhou again.

It was not until yesterday that Cao Cao confirmed the ownership of Henei. With its alliance with the Black Mountain Army and the support of Sizhou, the situation has become stable.

"Governor, the emperor sent an imperial edict saying that he and his ministers have decided to move the capital from Chang'an back to Luoyang. Please ask for your opinion."

Dong Zhao came in from outside and saluted Cao Cao.

"Kimihito, please sit down."

Cao Cao was eating a large carp from the Yellow River, steamed and very delicious: "Would you like to join us, Gongren?"

"I just ate it before I came here. Please feel free to help yourself, Governor."

Cao Cao eating in front of him was a sign of closeness, and Dong Zhao was happy from the bottom of his heart.

Cao Cao talked about serious matters and said:
"I will leave for Changyi tomorrow. I will entrust everything along the Hanoi route, as well as the route south from Sizhou to Nanyang, to Gongren for supervision. You are most familiar with this place."

"The emperor wants to move the capital. I have thought about this matter. If he wants to move, let him move."

"The Fu family encouraged the emperor to move the capital, so let the Fu family pay for the cost of moving the capital."

"Draft a letter in my tone, saying that I have no objection to moving the capital, but I have no money left in Yanzhou."

Dong Zhao smiled when he heard this and said, "The emperor also said in the imperial edict that he wanted Princess Wannian to marry into the governor's family. He asked the governor for his opinion."

Princess Wannian was the only daughter of the late emperor and was about the same age as Liu Xie.

The emperor wanted to win over people by marrying Princess Wannian into the Cao family, in order to establish a more stable relationship with Cao Cao.

Dong Zhao added: "In addition to the royal family, the Fu family also sent a message, they also want to marry the governor, saying that they want Fu Yu to enter the palace as a concubine."

Cao Cao flatly refused.

He gradually developed murderous intentions towards some people who stood beside Liu Xie and instigated the emperor, so how could he want the woman from the Fu family?

It is true that the attack on Yecheng made Yanzhou even more popular, and countless people sought marriage alliances.

The next day, Cao Cao set out on his journey back to Changyi.

He was in the car, pondering the pros and cons of sending troops to Yecheng.

Needless to say, the benefits were enormous; it was a heavy blow to Jizhou, both in practical terms and in terms of prestige.

But Cao Cao became more cautious than before.

Over the past half month, Yuan Shao has launched a series of responses.

He redeployed the defenses of Qingzhou and Youzhou, met with the Chanyu of nomadic tribes such as Tadun, sent several letters to Liu Biao of Jingzhou and Yuan Shu of Yangzhou, and made a series of adjustments.

Yuan Shao also sent a letter to Cao Cao, asking Cao Cao to return the captured Yuan family members and saying that he would not be threatened in any way.

Right now, the envoys from Yanzhou are discussing with Jizhou about redeeming the Yuan family members.

Cao Cao approached Changyi when the whole country was in turmoil and everyone had their own plans, and Yanzhou was gaining momentum.

He did not walk fast along the way, and from time to time he checked the farming and water conservancy construction conditions in various places.

In early August, there was a drizzle in the sky.

"How long will it take to get to Changyi?"

"Less than two hundred miles."

"Tell the family not to come to greet us. There's no need."

Cao Cao had a brief exchange with Dian Wei and others outside the car.

Jia Xu was also sitting in the car, reading the scroll of Yi Shu that he had snatched from Yuan Wei.

"He who can govern the world with moderation and harmony has great virtue and great use."

"The way of heaven is full of loss but beneficial to modesty; the way of earth becomes full and full of flow; the way of ghosts and gods is full of harm but blessed and modest; the way of human beings is full of evil but fond of modesty."

Jia Xu read carefully:

“The feeling I get from reading this volume of Yishu is completely different from the rubbings I’ve read before.

This scroll has its own luck, and has been refined by the Yuan family for generations, integrating into the national destiny of the Han Dynasty. It is truly a treasure."

Jia Xu handed the Book of Changes to Boss Cao.

Cao Cao took the Book of Yi, and the dragon of luck behind him quietly appeared, breathing in and out towards the Book of Yi, absorbing the energy in it.

There were wisps of purple halo in the Book of Yi, which were drawn out and combined with the dragon of destiny.

He absorbed the luck contained in the Book of Changes, and then gave back his own luck and integrated it into the Book of Changes in order to perform sacrifices and refine this sage's scroll.

During the process, scaly ridges gradually grew on the back of the Dragon of Fortune, and scale patterns corresponding to the hexagrams in the Book of Changes appeared on its abdomen.

The dragon's back is yang and the dragon's belly is yin.

Yin and Yang combined, and the Dragon of Luck and the Qi of the Book of Changes exchanged energy for several days. Cao Cao clearly felt that his own practice and luck were constantly increasing.

The dragon of luck is also transforming, becoming clearer and clearer, its eyes opening and closing, accompanying the birth and death of the hexagrams.

Cao Cao called up the entry and took a look.

【Reputation: 2014035/5000000】

[You are good at using troops and have launched a strategic-level raid. Your military talent is +0.5. Current talent value: 87 (B+)]

[You gain Xuzhou, and your jurisdiction increases by 6 counties and 69 cities;
You gain Hanoi, and your jurisdiction increases by one county and 17 cities.

After taking Xuzhou and Henei, Cao Cao's territory and population increased significantly.

Before Cao Cao attacked Yecheng, his reputation exceeded two million, and he was given two options.

Cao Cao was busy with his military operations at the time and did not use his arrows.

He also discovered another change.

The Book of Yi and the Dragon of Luck exchanged breath, and the Xiantai Seal obtained from Tomb No. 4 also interacted with the Book of Yi.

Over the past few days, the Xiantai Seal has continued to emit a faint light and the spell has flickered.

As the imperial carriage approached Changyi, people stood outside the city in the rain to greet him.

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(End of this chapter)