My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 235: Gao Shun Riding Alone for Miles
There are too many secrets behind a major case like the Yidaizhao.

Cao Cao asked Geng Ji and Sima Lang to investigate the case separately according to the clues they had, and several days passed in a flash.

Unfortunately, the brothers Zhuge Jin and Zhuge Liang did a very good job of keeping the secret of the chain mail, so no new evidence was found on Sima Lang's side for the time being.

Until the second day of February, the day when the dragon raises its head, Cao Cao's latest information about the iron wire ring soft armor was only that "Dong Cheng, Lu Bu, and Yuan Tan have this thing", and that was all. He couldn't find out where it was produced.

Compared to Sima Lang's slow progress, Geng Ji quickly brought back some confirmed news to Cao Cao along the way - unfortunately, it was bad news.

They sent people on fast horses to Runan overnight to chase Gao Shun, but after two days of chasing he failed to catch him, so it took them more than a day to rush back to report the news.

Let's go into the timeline. On the fourth day after Dong Cheng and Lu Bu attacked the imperial palace at night, Cao Cao officially confirmed that Gao Shun had successfully escaped.

The day before the arrival of the pursuing troops, Gao Shun suddenly abandoned the army and walked away alone with more than a hundred personal guards, attendants, scouts, and some family members. He ignored the fact that the winter snow in the Tongbai Mountains had not yet melted and plunged directly into the snow-covered Xinyang Valley. Judging from the direction he was heading, he should have fled south.

From Gao Shun's defense zone, three hundred miles southeast will reach Xiling County, Jiangxia County, which was controlled by Liu Bei.

At least half of the Xinyang Valley area of Tongbai Mountain, about a hundred miles deep, is still controlled by the Runan bandit Gong Du! Gao Shun actually ventured directly into the enemy-occupied area without the main force!

After receiving this news, Cao Cao naturally discussed it with Xun Yu, Xun You and Guo Jia immediately.

The three of them were of the same opinion: Gao Shun certainly could not have gone to seek refuge with a scumbag like Gong Du! So the only possibility was that Gao Shun really knew about Dong Cheng and Lu Bu's plan in advance, or at least knew part of it.

"Gao Shun is planning to surrender to Liu Bei! He is heading south along the snow-covered Xinyang Valley. Although he has to pass through the Gongdu area that is over a hundred miles long, as long as he passes the most difficult section of the mountain road, the southern foot of the mountain will be Xiling County of Jiangxia Commandery controlled by Liu Bei!" Guo Jia was the first to react.

Afterwards, Xun Yu and Xun You also reacted a little bit, and discussed with each other: "I have heard for a long time that the Zhuge brothers are extremely talented. Not only are they full of military strategies and ingenious plans, but there have also been many rumors about their magic in recent years. In fact, it is just that they are good at craftsmanship, and they are regarded as magic by foolish and short-sighted people.

So, were those iron wire ring soft armors the brainchild of Zhuge Brothers? That’s right! Not long before Dong Cheng started the rebellion, Liu Bei seemed to have sent his envoy Sun Shao to Xudu to meet him! At that time, he also gave gifts to the nobles and important officials in the court! Could it be that Sun Shao secretly gave Dong Cheng and Lu Bu’s iron wire ring soft armors to them at that time! "

"How dare you, Liu Bei! I didn't see through you!" Cao Cao suddenly realized what was going on after listening to the analysis of the Xun uncle and nephew, and he roared in anger.

"Immediately send someone to tell Sun Ce the order! Tell him that Liu Bei colluded with Dong Cheng and Lu Bu to be his accomplices and forged an imperial edict to plot a rebellion. Order Sun Ce to fight against the rebels!
Tell Sun Ce that as long as he destroys Liu Bei, the entire territory of Yangzhou can be granted to him! No, don't wait any longer, now change Sun Ce to be the governor of Yangzhou! Let Sun Ce fight Liu Bei with all his might! Xuzhou can also be given to him with the Huai River as the boundary, Guangling! If he is capable of suppressing the rebellion of Liu Biao, Jingzhou will also belong to him in the future!"

Xun Yu, Xun You and Guo Jia looked at each other in bewilderment when they heard this. In the end, it was Xun Yu who reminded them not to be angry and gave orders: "Don't be reckless! You forgot that you had already given Sun Ce a secret order before."

Cao Cao: "That's different! Next one! I didn't tell Sun Ce before that Liu Bei is a traitor! I will personally join forces with Sun Ce to attack Liu Bei. Sun Ce will take the south of the Yangtze River, and I will take the north of the Yangtze River..."

The uncle and nephew of the Xun family were finally frightened by this idea and hurriedly dissuaded him: "My lord, you must not do this! Yuan Shao is the biggest enemy right now! Regardless of whether Liu Bei participated in the forged edict or not, as long as the news of the incident in Xudu spreads, Yuan Shao will definitely immediately raise troops to the south, with hundreds of thousands of troops approaching! At that time, Yuan Shao will still be the biggest threat!
At worst, we can trick Sun Ce and send troops to attack Liu Bei together with him. In fact, it is just a feint and Sun Ce will have to resist on his own! Don't be reckless!"

Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia, who also felt a little guilty and looked evasive.

In this life, Guo Jia did not dare to do as he did in the parallel universe, when he heard that Liu Bei had stolen Xuzhou, he asked Cao Cao to launch a quick attack immediately.

After all, he also knew that Liu Bei now had a deep foundation. He had worked hard to develop the country between Xu and Yang for three and a half years, and his ruling method was relatively light in terms of taxes and levies, and he won the hearts of the people.

If he really started a war with Liu Bei directly, it would take an unknown amount of time to defeat him, as his own lair would have been completely destroyed by Yuan Shao long ago.

Cao Cao was persuaded by all his advisers and finally calmed down. He decided not to mention Liu Bei's crime publicly, but only mentioned it in the secret decree to Sun Ce in private.

At worst, I can just sell Sun Ce out in exchange for a safe back during the decisive battle with Yuan Shao!
Finally, Cao Cao also ordered that the inside information of Dong Cheng and Lu Bu’s rebellion be blocked as long as possible.

Even if the incident of "a mutiny in Xu Du" itself cannot be contained, we must try to spread smoke bombs to make the princes outside the city misjudge the scale and extent of the mutiny, and try to minimize the misjudgment.

As for subjective information such as the nature and motives of the mutiny, we must also try our best to block it and mislead the interpretation of the princes outside the city.

Words like "Dong Cheng forged the imperial edict" must be kept sealed for as long as possible, and it is best if the word "edict" does not appear from beginning to end.

Even if Yuan Shao would have doubts, he would definitely send people to Xu Du to spy, recheck and verify.

Taking into account the time required for the round trip, Yecheng is seven or eight hundred miles away from Xudu. A round trip for the verification spies may take more than ten to twenty days, plus the time for verification and decision-making.

Cao Cao estimated that he could delay the Xudu mutiny for more than ten days before letting Yuan Shao know about it. The underlying reasons and motives of the Xudu mutiny could probably be kept secret for a month.

Liu Bei in the south should be more informed than Yuan Shao, because Gao Shun may have brought Liu Bei first-hand inside information after his escape.

Cao Cao only had one month left to prepare for the decisive battle. When the time came, Yuan Shao would confirm that there was such a "reign", and no matter whether it was true or not, Yuan Shao would definitely say it was true. Then, Yuan Shao, who had been looking for an excuse, would get what he wanted, and hundreds of thousands of troops would immediately press south.

After Cao Cao gave instructions on how to block the news, Geng Ji and Sima Lang stood up and said goodbye, ready to carry out the order.

But Cao Cao remembered something and called out to them, "Wait a minute!"

Geng Ji and Sima Lang turned around: "What else do you want, Sikong?"

Cao Cao stroked his beard and said, "Recently, we have to do our best to cover up the forged imperial edict. There is no need to mention this. But when the forged imperial edict can no longer be concealed, you must also be more observant and adjust your words in time, so as not to hurt the prestige of the court by telling lies with your eyes open.

When things get too far, remember to spread this true news: Jia Wenhe came up with the idea of persuading me to pretend that Yuan Shao had invaded and lead the army to the north, to camp at Linwei Pavilion for two days, and then to lure the ambitious people in Xudu to show up. I will reward Jia Wenhe handsomely for this. "

Geng Ji and Sima Lang shuddered slightly when they heard this, but they didn't think it was wrong - Cao Cao wanted to tie Jia Xu to his chariot completely, but he couldn't let his subordinates take the blame.

After all, Cao Cao did not punish Jia Xu, but rewarded and promoted Jia Xu generously. This is fundamentally different from Yuan Shao's blaming and taking his anger out on his subordinates.

The plan to lure the snake out of its hole and kill Dong Cheng and Lu Bu was indeed proposed by Jia Xu, and he was not wronged in this regard.

It is like many people in later generations said, "It is impossible that Zhao Kuangyin was completely unaware of the Chenqiao Rebellion as written in official history, and was supported by his subordinates because he was drunk, because before Zhao Kuangyin sent out his troops, the false news of 'Khitan invasion' was spread by his people."

Jia Xu's discussion on that day and the inspiring effect it had on Cao Cao were almost equivalent to the guy who taught Zhao Kuangyin to fake the Khitan invasion before the Chenqiao Rebellion. It is not wrong to say that he was "the first meritorious official in suppressing the rebellion."

In this way, Cao Cao was firmly established as the historical figure who "twice extinguished the emperor's hope of returning power to the throne". When Wang Yun and Lu Bu fought against Dong Zhuo, they were finally instigated by Jia Xu to turn the tables. Now Dong Cheng and Lu Bu fought against Cao Cao, and they were also turned around by Jia Xu's tricks.

Jia Xu is the only vicious scholar in the world who laid the foundation for Li Jue and Guo Si to hold the emperor hostage, and then Cao Cao to hold the emperor hostage. He has no way out and cannot get off the boat in this life.

In this way, Cao Cao can use Jia Xu with peace of mind when he uses him later, and he won't have to worry about this old bastard betraying him.

No matter whether he fell into the hands of Yuan Shao or Liu Bei, Jia Xu could not escape the fate of being cut into pieces by thousands of swords and having his body chopped into pieces and mixed with feces. He could only follow Cao Cao to the end.

……

On the other side, the southern part of Runan and the Tongbai mountainous area.

Gao Shun temporarily escaped Cao Cao's pursuit, but his subsequent journey to escape was not easy.

On the one hand, he would linger in the territory of the Runan thief Gong Du for quite a long time and had no way to immediately jump to Liu Bei's direct jurisdiction.

On the other hand, the accumulated snow in the mountains in winter can prevent large armies from entering the mountains, but it will naturally pose a life threat to small-scale teams.

Gao Shun even had an epiphany the moment he entered the mountain:
There might be a dozen or even more people in his team of a hundred or so who were injured or killed during the hundreds of miles of mountain trekking because of accidentally stepping into a snow pit, falling off a cliff, or other reasons, but he had no choice.

Especially those sent out as scouts to explore the way, the casualties will definitely be the greatest.

After walking for two days, Gao Shun killed or injured five or six of his men, and two were frostbitten and seriously ill. In the harsh environment, there was a lack of medical care and medicine, and he could not drag down his teammates, so he had to cruelly abandon them.

Gao Shun could not help but make a sad estimate that if he continued the forced march, the casualties would only be greater.

In the end, he decided to look for the base of Gong Du's troops first, instead of trying to cross the mountain in one go. He also explained the situation to the other party, expressed his intentions, and was willing to join the other party in rebelling against Cao and joining Liu before leaving.

In this way, as long as Gong Du was willing to take Gao Shun in for a few days in his winter camp, he could wait until the weather improved before leaving. At the same time, Gong Du still had some troops and scouts, so if he found that Cao's army was about to attack, he could still escape in time.

Gao Shun estimated that after switching to a more reliable new method, it would take him about half a month to cross the snow-covered area of Tongbai Mountain and enter Xiling County of Jiangxia County.

As long as we reach Xiling, the rest should be easy. With Liu Bei's support, we can reach Wuchang in a day or two.

According to this progress, Liu Bei would have learned the inside story of the Xu Du mutiny and the Yidaizhao incident around the end of February.

Liu Bei sent letters to his various territories. Zhuge Jin in Danyang and Chen Deng in Guangling should have known about it by the end of February or the beginning of March. Other remote corners such as Yuzhang and the southern mountainous areas of Kuaiji would have known about it later, but that was not important.

(End of this chapter)