The revival of the Han Dynasty must start with Dong Zhuo

Chapter 348 Volume Don’t lose face!
"Mengqi, sigh."

Pang De also called the doctor in the army and asked him to help reconnect Ma Chao's broken arm and hang it on his chest.

"Bang bang!"

Pang De patted Ma Chao's chest twice.

"If you accept the punishment, you should look like you accept the punishment!"

"We are all men! It's no big deal!"

"No matter how angry the emperor is, we have the old general and I here! The Ma family will not be implicated!"

"As for you... I heard that your wife is pregnant. Don't worry, I will take care of your posthumous child and treat him as my own. Just leave with dignity and don't embarrass us!"

Pang De was comforting Ma Chao like an older brother at this moment, and Ma Chao's face had turned completely pale.

Seeing that everything was made clear, Pang De went to reorganize his soldiers, ordered them to rest here, and planned to lead them away.

Soon Zhang Fei also brought firewood for cooking. But when Pang De saw that Zhang Fei's horse was carrying a woman tied up, he frowned and said, "Yide! How dare you rob a woman? Aren't you afraid of being blamed by the emperor?"

Zhang Fei seemed to be hesitant to speak at this moment, and his expression was extremely interesting.

"Lingming, I, Old Zhang, will not hide the truth from you. If I say that I just happened to meet this girl in the jungle, would you believe me?"

Pang De said angrily: "You can't just tie them up and bring them back just by chance! You just..."

"Her father is Xiahou Yuan!"

"??!"

Pound, who had been talking nonstop just now, immediately shut up.

"Is her father really Xiahou Yuan?"

"Really!"

"Okay! That's fine!"

"..."

If the girl was from an ordinary family, it would be called abduction.

But if she is Xiahou Yuan’s daughter, then she is definitely a trophy!

Although it was a bit strange that Zhang Fei met Xiahou Yuan's daughter when he went out to chop firewood, since he had met her, there was no reason for him to go back!

……

The result of the Battle of Yingshui gradually spread.

All parts of Yuzhou were defeated and did not dare to resist the king's army at all.

Liu Bei also reaped a lot of rewards after cleaning up the battlefield.

Needless to say, food, fodder and supplies.

Some of Cao Cao’s assets, such as the Thunderbolt Chariot and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, were also seized.

In addition, there are the famous generals in Cao’s army.

According to statistics, Le Jin, Han Hao and others were killed on the spot.

Among the captured generals, the one with the highest military rank was Cao Cao's general Yu Jin. In addition, Liu Ye was also chased back by the cavalry because he was not good at riding.

No matter how you look at it, this is a complete and utter victory!

But when Liu Bei was writing the battle report to the emperor, his brows never relaxed.

"Kong Ming, will the emperor... punish us?"

Zhuge Liang was also somewhat helpless: "Uncle, can you remove the word 'ma'?"

"..."

Both of them understood that the Battle of Yingshui was indeed a great victory, but it was an unnecessary victory.

According to the emperor's plan, it would be entirely possible to defeat the enemy without fighting and make Cao Cao collapse on his own.

Instead of doing what we are doing now, taking such a big risk and fighting a fully prepared Cao Cao.

The results of the Battle of Yingshui can still be achieved as long as we honestly follow the emperor's plan.

But the sacrifices in the Battle of Yingshui were entirely caused by Liu Bei and Ma Chao themselves.

Fortunately, the battle was won.

If he lost, Liu Bei wouldn't know how to face writing this letter to the emperor!
"Uncle, please write back to His Majesty truthfully, and then wait for the final decision."

Liu Bei also sighed for a while.

"Kong Ming, with your wisdom, how do you think His Majesty will deal with me and Meng Qi?"

Asking Zhuge Liang was obviously an attempt to get a clear idea.

But Zhuge Liang closed his eyes and did not look at Liu Bei: "Uncle, this matter is entirely up to your Majesty's holy heart, and no one else can interfere."

"If we try to guess the emperor's thoughts at this time, I'm afraid it will backfire."

After hearing this, Liu Bei had no choice but to accept his fate, and honestly presented the military situation to the emperor, asking for his decision.

The emperor, who was in Luoyang, actually knew about this matter long before Liu Bei presented the military intelligence.

When Pang De followed Pang Tong's order and led his troops to rescue, he also sent a messenger to inform the emperor of the news.

When Liu Xie first heard it, he was naturally furious.

By the time Liu Bei brought the military information and placed it on the table, Liu Xie's temper had actually stabilized.

Summoning Yang Xiu, Guo Jia and others, Liu Xie directly handed the unopened letter to Yang Xiu: "Dezu, you read it!"

Yang Xiu still didn't know what happened on the Yingshui side, so he just thought it was ordinary military information and casually read it out -

"Cao Cao lured Ma Chao to attack, and then dug up the Yingshui River, causing the cavalry to be completely wiped out..."

The hair on your hair is standing on end!

Yang Xiu, who had been absent-minded, suddenly stood up and read the text quickly.

Hearing this, Guo Jia looked at the emperor with disbelief. Liu Xie raised his hand, signaling Yang Xiu not to read any more.

"Fengxiao, do you think Cao Cao will win?"

Guo Jia: ...

He followed the emperor, and even if the emperor did not take the initiative to talk to him, he had a general idea of ​​the troops deployed by the emperor in various places.

On the Jingzhou-Yuzhou side, there were only Liu Bei's 20,000 infantry and Ma Chao's 5,000 cavalry.

Why did the emperor ask Ma Chao to lead the cavalry to provide support?

Isn’t it because the emperor is afraid that Liu Bei’s Jingzhou troops are not strong enough to resist Cao Cao?

Now that Cao Cao has dug up the Ying River and eliminated Ma Chao's cavalry unit, how can Liu Bei win this battle?
But if you tell the truth...

Guo Jia cautiously asked the emperor: "Will Your Majesty kill me?"

"will not."

After getting the emperor's promise, Guo Jia began to shake his head: "It's difficult for Liu Xuande to defeat Cao Gong! Very difficult!"

"Even with Zhuge Kongming's assistance, Liu Bei may not be able to defeat Cao Gong in an open area like Yingshui..."

Guo Jia's Adam's apple rolled and he swallowed his saliva: "Your Majesty, this is not the obituary of the Emperor's uncle, is it?"

Seeing Guo Jia like this, the last trace of anger in Liu Xie's heart disappeared without a trace.

"Dezu, continue reading to Fengxiao to let him know if it is an obituary."

While the emperor was talking to Guo Jia, Yang Xiu had quickly read the entire military report and knew the result. He now felt relieved.

When Yang Xiu heard that the emperor wanted him to continue reading, he immediately understood that the emperor wanted him to tease Guo Jia.

So Yang Xiu read it one sentence at a time, and when he came to "Liu Bei's great banner tilted", Yang Xiu felt like something was stuck in his throat and was unable to speak.

Seeing Yang Xiu like this, Guo Jia thought something big had happened on the battlefield...

Could it be that a pillar of the country died in the battle?
Or did the three pillars of the country, Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Ma Chao, all die in battle?
Guo Jia no longer dared to imagine how he would face the emperor's thundering wrath.

Seeing Guo Jia’s pale face, Yang Xiu was caught off guard and laughed twice, then quickly read out the rest of the content!

Turn around.

Upon hearing that Liu Bei did not lose but defeated Cao Cao, Guo Jia didn't know whether to cry or laugh.

But in the end, Guo Jia still compromised with his situation and congratulated the emperor: "Congratulations, Your Majesty. Now that we have advanced to Yanyu, we can prepare for the war in Hebei!"

Liu Xie was not at all pleased when he heard Guo Jia's congratulations. Instead, he asked Guo Jia, "Why did Feng Xiao think that I would not first take Xuzhou, then Huainan, and then kill Cao Cao?"

Guo Jia immediately said: "Your Majesty has always been able to distinguish priorities, and this time is no exception."

"Your Majesty's biggest opponent is still Yuan Shao, and the ultimate goal is still to take Hebei. Why would you waste your troops in the Central Plains?"

"Even if Xuzhou and Huainan are still under the rule of Cao Gong, to Your Majesty...are they just ripe peaches that can be picked at any time?"

This defeat of Cao Cao completely meant that he lost his base.

Just like Yuan Shu in the past, once he lost Nanyang, he basically bid farewell to the stage of competing for supremacy in the world.

It was obvious that the Emperor and Yuan Shao were the main forces on both sides, but now Cao Cao was eliminated first, which made Guo Jia feel a little sad.

"Fengxiao, if I ask you to go back and persuade Cao Cao to surrender now, how likely do you think it is?"

Guo Jia didn't expect the emperor to suddenly ask such a question.

But after thinking it over, Guo Jia said very bluntly: "If Your Majesty asks me to surrender to Cao Gong, I'm afraid I'll be like a meat bun throwing a dog!"

"Given Lord Cao's character, he would still choose to fight to the death even if he is at the end of his rope... Your Majesty, it is actually much easier to kill Lord Cao than to persuade him to surrender."

"If Lord Cao admits defeat and surrenders, there is only one possible outcome."

Now even Yang Xiu became curious: "What's going on?"

Guo Jia glanced at the emperor, not knowing whether he should say anything or not.

"Break the ambition in his heart."

When Liu Xie heard this, he immediately lost interest.

"I didn't intend to prove anything to Cao Cao."

"If Cao Cao is willing to surrender, then so be it. If he is not willing to surrender, then so be it. I will come to you sooner or later anyway."

At this moment, Yang Xiu suddenly asked: "Your Majesty, what if Cao Cao defected from Xuzhou to Yuan Shao?"

Before he finished speaking, Liu Xie and Guo Jia both shook their heads.

Guo Jia shook his head because he knew very well Cao Cao's character, and would never go to Yuan Shao for help as long as he was not completely destroyed.

Liu Xie shook his head because Cao Cao's talent was that of a commander of ten thousand chariots, not a fierce general.

Once Cao Cao lost his status as a king and a hegemon and the foundation of his existence, there was nothing to fear.

Cao Cao and Lu Bu are just the opposite.

Lu Bu was the most threatening when he was a general, but not so scary when he became a vassal.

The most terrifying time for Cao Cao was when he was a prince, not when he was a general.

If Cao Cao gave up Xuzhou and Huainan and joined Yuan Shao as a general now, he would basically lose all threat, so Liu Xie would not take it seriously.

"Well, since Fengxiao said that Cao Cao is unwilling to surrender, then we will ignore Cao Cao's affairs."

Liu Xie took the military information from Yang Xiu and finally got to the point -

"What do you think I should do with my uncle and Ma Chao?"

"Is it a reward, a punishment, or killing?"

"Dezu and Fengxiao, you must give me some advice first so that I can have a clear idea in my mind!"

Yang Xiu, who had been watching Guo Jia's excitement for a long time, suddenly looked sullen.

Who dares to say anything about the treatment of Liu Bei and Ma Chao?
When the emperor questioned them, it was like roasting them both on a volcano!

(End of this chapter)