Chapter 345: Conquering a city and changing the emperor [Subscribe]

[Your plan for the Western Region is being implemented, with all the troops, both visible and invisible, responding and coordinating.]

The entry is pushing the battle situation.

Cao Cao pinched his eyebrows.

He felt a sense of alarm again in his sleep, and then felt the push notification of the entry, so he woke up.

Cao Cao put on a thin shirt and came to the window.

He and Jia Xu had previously judged that the other party's assassination was carefully planned and they would definitely consider a backup plan in advance.

If Li Ji fails, there may be a plan to remedy the situation.

It should be the one that Cao Cao felt in his sleep, when his spirit warned him that there was a force lingering in the distance and then quietly retreated.

Some people under Cao's command had already followed secretly.

The moon moves to the middle of the sky.

Cao Cao stood by the window and looked towards the west.

Yuzhi in the Western Regions was one of the Four Anxi Towns in the later Tang Dynasty and the most important strategic town in the Western Regions.

Cao Cao judged that the Buddhists' base in the Western Regions was either Yuzhai or Shache, and Yuzhai was the most likely location.

He used the message bead to send a message to Taishi Ci and Xiahou Dun: "How is the battle going?"

"I have invaded the capital of King Yuzhen..."

"Don't worry, brother. We have already entered Shache."

The two of them sent the message back one after another.

Then there was another message: "I am proceeding according to plan."

This one came from Huang Zhong.

Cao Cao put away the bead, raised his ears slightly, and said, "Wenhe."

In the next room, Jia Xu poked his head out when he heard the voice:

"It's quiet at night, and I can't sleep, so I'll think of something. I'll re-examine the defenses around you to see if there are any loopholes."

As Jia Xu spoke, he walked out of the house with brisk steps and came to the outside of Cao Cao's house.

The two talked through the window.

"I have found some clues about the assassin."

"The assassin you mentioned, his real name is Li Ji, and he goes by the name Xu Yin when he travels outside."

"He is not well-known in this world, but he is known in the top assassin circles. Chen Ying has heard of Xu Yin's name."

"Chen Ying?"

Cao Cao's mind flashed through Chen Ying's pale, cold yet unusually pretty face.

Her stabbing skills are very powerful.

When Yuan Wei wanted to kill Dong Zhuo, with the resources of the Yuan family, he was able to find the best assassin, who was Chen Ying.

"Li Ji comes from a hidden school that specializes in assassination missions. That school is called Cangfeng Dao."

Jia Xu said: "But I suspect that Li Ji's attack on the King of Wei was not instigated by Cangfeng Dao.

In addition to the Buddhists behind him, I also found out that the mother of the head of the Li family in Pingyuan County was seriously ill two years ago and was cured by a Buddhist sutra preacher. Since then, she has been reciting Buddhist scriptures day and night. "

Cao Cao: "Is Li Ji from the Pingyuan County Li family?"

He didn't ask Jia Xu why he was able to find out so many hidden connections in just half a night.

Being able to quickly find direction and sort out clues when there seems to be no clue is the most basic ability of a top strategist.

What's more, Cao Ying has control over huge resources.

For some matters, Jia Xu would issue an order, and within half an hour his subordinates would bring over a lot of relevant information that Cao Ying had collected in the past.

What Jia Xu meant was that in addition to the involvement of Buddhism behind Li Ji, the Li family of Pingyuan County might not be clean either.

Another link is someone who knows Cao Cao's itinerary.

If the assassin Li Ji is involved with the Li family of Pingyuan County, there are many things worth investigating behind the scenes, more than what can be seen.

In the past few years, Cao Cao has cleaned up the gentry several times.

In addition, Cao's camp is now victorious in every battle and has a solid foundation, so few nobles dare to stand up and fight against Cao Cao.

At least on the surface, no one will be stubborn.

The only exception was the gentry in one place.

They are the Kong family in Lu, which is located at the border of Qingzhou and Xuzhou, and even several families that are on good terms with the Kong family, such as the Li family and the Ni family.

Several families are of the same blood and support each other.

There was a man named Ni Heng in the Ni family, who was a close friend of Kong Rong and Yang Xiu of the Hongnong Yang family.

When Ni Heng was young, he was famous for his literary talent and eloquence, and he liked to insult the powerful and the wealthy.

What does that mean?

He relies on humiliating the powerful and wealthy to show his clean status and fame.

This is not uncommon among scholars from aristocratic families.

Like Kong Rong, Ni Heng also liked to criticize current affairs.

The most famous event about him in history was taking off his clothes, beating drums naked in public, and insulting Cao Cao to show his madness and his refusal to associate with such a treacherous person as Cao Cao.

Ni Heng also openly said that Xun Yu had a face worthy of attending a funeral.

This was used to ridicule Xun Yu, saying that if he followed Cao Cao, he would sooner or later have a sad face and regret that day.

Kong Rong escorted the emperor out of Yizhou, and Ni Heng also wrote a poem saying that Cao Cao had usurped the Han Dynasty and would be infamous for eternity.

It also talks about Kong Rong's loyalty.

In the past, Cao Cao considered promoting education and spreading knowledge.

Zheng Xuan's Imperial Academy was just beginning to show signs of improvement and could provide a steady stream of talent for the Wei Dynasty.

The status of Confucius among students all over the world is self-evident.

So he didn't take direct action against the Kong family.

But this time it is different. If the Kong and Li families secretly help the Buddhists, they will be courting their own death.

Cao Cao and Jia Xu discussed for a while and then went to bed.

It's bright.

The news came first from the Western Regions.

Taishi Ci and Xiahou Dun conquered Yuzhen and the capital of Shache respectively.

The subsequent Wei army was advancing westward from Qiezhi.

Just as the plan made before the war, troops were sent out from Qiezhi to cooperate with the Wei army that occupied Yuzhi.

The Jingjue were caught in the middle, with no way to advance or retreat, and had only two options: surrender or face Cao's army. Cao Wei's current military campaign was to attack Yuzhen and Shache, while threatening the Jingjue, with the goal of linking up the entire southern front of the Western Regions.

After this battle, the Wei army in the Western Regions had passed Qiuci in the north and Shache in the south.

Two-thirds of the forces in the Western Regions submitted.

There were only a few small countries left, and seeing that their power was declining, they dared not fight against the Wei army like an egg against a rock.

The entire Western Regions are within Cao's reach.

Jiang Gan, a diplomat newly promoted by Cao Cao, also returned to the Western Regions with the envoys from the Western Regions who came to pay tribute.

Diplomacy supported by strong military force has always been successful.

According to the current situation, in one or two months at most, the entire Western Region will be under the rule of the Great Wei.

The capital of King Yuzhen.

The streets were filled with galloping Wei cavalry.

Last night, Taishi Ci led his men to attack. The Lord of Yuzhi woke up in the night and called on his troops to resist.

At midnight, the city gate was breached first.

When the morning light first broke, Yu Zhi's palace was stormed by the Wei army.

It was too late for King Yu Zhen to surrender.

Taishi Ci did as Cao Cao said and replaced the king who disobeyed him.

The King of Yuzhi was unwilling to return to Wei, so after Taishi Ci captured the city, he ordered his execution, which was very forceful.

You must know that no matter how big a regime is, the fight for the throne among relatives is often the bloodiest.

Taishi Ci's action of killing the King of Yuzhi after conquering the city was actually instructed by Cao Cao.

Cao Cao's decision was based on his understanding of the situation.

The king who was killed by Yu Zhi ascended the throne by usurping the throne from his elder brother's son.

The main supporters behind it included the pro-Buddhist nobleman.

This is equivalent to Buddhism supporting the current Yu Ting regime from behind.

Taishi Ci beheaded the current king of Yuzhen, who had previously seized the throne. However, his nephew, who had not yet been executed, was imprisoned in the capital of Yuzhen.

If he was released at this time, he could be supported by the Wei Dynasty and become the master of Yuzhuang again.

The new king will be grateful to Cao Wei for helping him regain the throne.

Yu Zong will also change from being pro-Buddhist to being pro-Cao.

"We came to attack the city, and the Buddhists did not show up."

In Yu Zhen's palace, two people were talking.

One was Taishi Ci and the other was Huang Zhong.

Cao Cao judged in advance that the Buddhists' base in the Western Regions would most likely be in Zhuang, so he made an additional arrangement.

It was Taishi Ci who appeared to be the one coming to kill him directly.

Huang Zhong also hid 10,000 troops in secret to guard against the counterattack of the Buddhist forces in the Western Regions.

As soon as the Buddhist forces in Yu Zong showed up, Huang Zhong would immediately rush over and settle the battle.

But unexpectedly, when Taishi Ci led his troops to break into the city, the Buddhists did not make any movement at all.

"They are more difficult to deal with than we expected. Perhaps they have seen through our strategy of hiding our troops secretly and chose not to engage in a head-on battle?" Taishi Ci guessed.

"Those Buddhists don't seem to be well versed in military affairs. They shouldn't be able to see that we are attacking from both the light and the dark."

Huang Zhong, wearing a general's armor, pondered and said, "I think it's probably because we came unexpectedly and they were not prepared enough, so they were forced to retreat."

At this moment, in a mansion in the royal capital of Yuzhi.

The great nobleman Yu Zhen and the leader of Buddhists in the Western Regions were both there.

Last night's incident was sudden and violent.

As soon as Cao's army appeared, they attacked the city.

Buddhism was previously planning to unite all parties to fight against the Wei army's control over the Western Regions.

They were still in the planning stage, waiting for news on the assassination of Cao Cao before making the next decision, but the Wei army had already arrived.

It's like two sides are about to go to war, and while they are still figuring out how to fight, the Wei army just raises their swords and starts attacking.

The Buddhist was caught off guard and was hit in the vitals.

"The 3,500 defenders in this city were defeated in one night?"

"The Han army is good at fighting. The Western Xianbei were also defeated by them before. When the news came, my Yuzhen tribe was afraid of them and was ambushed again."

The nobles of Yuzhi had a sad face:
"The city gates were opened by them, and the Han soldiers rushed in, stabbing anyone they saw, and shouting that they would not be killed unless they surrendered.

Among my Yuzhuang garrison, one man dropped his weapon, and more and more surrendered.”

Yu Zhi's noble Chi Wei could not hide his shock on his face.

Yesterday evening, he was still a member of the Yuzhi royal family who commanded tens of thousands of people, but this morning he was fleeing for his life and lost everything.

If he was found by the Han army, he would be beheaded.

The head of the Buddhist sect also had a solemn expression and did not speak for a long time.

Buddhism is good at preaching.

But they have no generals and lack military strike capabilities.

However, Cao Wei pushed forward the deployment at the military level, which was like thunder and wind, starting later but arriving first, with unpredictable changes and defeating the enemy with ease.

It refers to the application of tactics and strategic trends.

The conquest of Yu Zong overturned the advantages accumulated by Buddhism in the Western Regions in one fell swoop.

……

[Your tribe Taishi Ci occupied Yuzhen and supported the new master. You gained new population and land.]

[Your subordinate Xiahou Dun is attacking Shache...]

The entry gives a new push.

After dawn, Cao Cao returned to Yecheng.

But just one day later, he left the city again and headed east of Yanzhou.

This time Cao Cao did not conceal his itinerary and traveled openly.

In Lu, after hearing the news, several families including the Li and Kong families vaguely guessed that Cao Cao's trip might be aimed at them.

The land of Lu has quietly become solemn and gloomy!

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(End of this chapter)