Chapter 1: The Hero of Dong Prefecture

  Qingzhou Yellow Turbans besieged Kong Rong in Douchang, which was in the autumn of the 9th month of the 2nd year of Yuanping. At that time, Cao Cao (Cao Mengde), who was thinking about his merits, was serving as the governor of Dongjun and was busy collecting taxes and preparing for a possible war with Gongsun Zan next year.

  They were busy and couldn't be bothered, when suddenly a scout came to report that the Yellow Turbans had surrounded Kong Rong. Kong Rong sent someone to Pingyuan to ask Liu Bei for help, and was leading his troops to Douchang in a hurry. Cao Cao didn't listen at first, but as soon as he heard it, he couldn't help but be shocked, and hastily summoned his advisors and generals to come and discuss the matter.

  Ji Duwei Ren Jun said, looking at the current situation, we will have to follow Yuan Shao and fight a battle or two with Gongsun Zan. This Liu Bei is actually Gongsun Zan's man. Originally, he deeply entered Qingzhou, occupied Pingyuan, and inserted a sharp blade into our heartland. If he uses the excuse of punishing the Yellow Turbans to seize Beihai and Qiguo, it will be a complete three-sided siege for us, with a high degree of danger. No way, we must also quickly dispatch troops to Beihai.

  Li Dian also said that if Liu Bei only takes Beihai, it's fine. But if he takes advantage of the situation and advances to take Donglai as well, the trouble will be even greater. Donglai has a good harbor, and at that time, Gongsun Zan can transport his troops to Jiaodong through the sea route, stabbing us in the back with a knife. At that time, everything will be over, and even if we have the ability to penetrate heaven and earth, it will be impossible to turn the situation around.

  Cao Cao immediately slammed his hand on the table, ready to dispatch troops, but when he glanced around, he saw that his most trusted advisor, Jia Xu, was still stroking his beard in thought, without offering any opinion. So he hastily bowed: "Zhicai, what do you think?"

  Xie Xian had not yet had time to respond when suddenly a loud shout was heard from outside the door: "Meng De, wait!" Immediately, two officials rushed in with a "thud thud thud".

  The two men were both wearing deep crimson clothes and black headscarves, which was the uniform of the county officials. One was around thirty years old, with a long horse face, thick beard, and small pupils that made him look somewhat sinister. The other was just over twenty, with a handsome appearance, a small white face as delicate as if it could be pinched to produce water, and only a short mustache, having not yet grown a full beard.

  The one who just shouted was the horse-faced, thick-bearded man. He had a coarse face and a loud voice, and as soon as he entered the hall, he questioned Cao Cao: "Meng De, for such a major matter as sending troops to Qingzhou, why didn't you discuss it with me first?"

  "Ah," Cao Cao, seeing the two of them, hastily stood up and bowed, "Gongtai, Wenruo, didn't you go to Gucheng to collect taxes? How did you return so quickly?"

  The man who spoke was Cao Cao's childhood friend, Chen Gong, the supervisor of Dong Commandery. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and let out a long sigh: "Alas, don't even mention it, collecting taxes is really not a job for humans. When we arrived at the county office in Gu City to calculate the taxes, you won't believe what happened - all the land in the entire county was registered under the names of just three people! So, I took some accountants and went to visit them one by one. The result was that those three people all pushed the blame onto the Yellow Turbans, saying they had caused chaos for a whole year and their fields had yielded nothing, asking us to report to the commandery office to exempt them from this year's land tax and poll tax..."

  Another Xun Yu, Xun Wenruo, spoke up and said: "That's talking nonsense with one's eyes open. Whether the land has a good harvest or not, we've traveled through it all, can't we see clearly? The poor harvest is true, but saying there's no grain at all is a lie. In the end, those three households treated us to good food and drink, and even offered to bribe us with money, but they still refused to hand over a single grain of rice."

  Cao Cao raised an eyebrow and glared, slapping the table: "Such a rebellious subject should be arrested for resisting tax payment and executed according to law!"

  "Stop, Meng De," Chen Gong hastily dissuaded him. "I've made inquiries and found out that those three are all renowned scholars in the county, from families of high social standing with a history of producing officials. One of them is even said to be Zheng Kangcheng's disciple. How can you arbitrarily arrest them? It's a small matter to reduce the land tax, but if this were to chill the hearts of the great families in the county and damage your reputation, or even provoke unrest, that would be a loss not worth the gain."

  Xun Yu said: "I think they are also fierce outside and weak inside. I just hold an empty title of General Who Pacifies the Barbarians, you don't give me a single soldier, if I had two or three hundred soldiers following me, do you think they would still dare to push me around?"

  Cao Cao nodded: "Alright, I'll order Xiahou Yuan to move his troops to Gucheng and provide you with support!"

  While speaking, Chen Gong and Xun Yu walked closer, Ren Jun, Li Qian, Cao Ren and others quickly gave up their seats to let them sit down. After Chen Gong sat down, he waved his hand: "This matter is not urgent, we heard that Pingyuan sent troops to rescue Kong Beihai, so we hurried back to help you make a decision - Meng De, this army cannot be dispatched."

  Cao Cao frowned: "What does Gongtai mean? Why can't we send troops?"

  "It's a masterless move," Chen Gong spread his hands, "the North Sea has sent Tai Shi Zi Yi to seek help from Pingyuan, but not to our Dongjun, and we don't have the governor's orders. At this time, rashly sending troops... according to the rules, a 2,000-shi official cannot mobilize troops beyond the border, let alone using Yanzhou soldiers to fight in Qingzhou?"

  "What's the point of still adhering to those old rules in this day and age? Didn't we used to frequently cross borders and mobilize troops back then?"

  "In the past, it was all about sending out famous generals," Xun Yu explained. "The lord's arrival in Dongjun is also under the order of General Chariot and Alliance Master Yuan Shao. Although the lord is acting as the General Who Displays Martial Prowess, rather than as the Governor of Dongjun, he can still mobilize troops beyond his jurisdiction, but this may lead to conflict with the Pingyuan army. If this leads to a full-scale confrontation between Ji Province and You Province, I ask you, are we fully prepared at present?"

  Before Cao Cao and others could respond, Chen Gong hastily shook his head: "Let's not talk about us, even Yuan Shao is not well-prepared. If we don't have one or two years of accumulation, fighting against Gongsun will be mostly defeats and few victories. So for now, it's better if we don't confront the Pingyuan army and don't provoke Gongsun Zan."

  Xie Xian nodded slightly: "Gong Tai's words are just, and this is also the reason why I, Xie, have been hesitant... But can we just sit back and watch as Liu Bei extends his power into Beihai and even Qi and Donglai?"

  Chen Gong smiled slightly, with a confident look: "The current plan is to send more scouts to gather information about the situation in Beihai. If the Pingyuan army is defeated by the Yellow Turbans or retreats after defeating them, it will not harm us either way. If Liu Bei wins against the Yellow Turbans and wants to stay in Beihai, would Kong Rong willingly open the door to let him in? At that time, he will either ask for our help or ask for Yuan Shao's help, and we can send troops to attack, with a justifiable reason. Even if Gongsun Zan were to mobilize his entire army, it would not be based on this."

  Xun Yu added in agreement: "This is a way of using the unchanging to respond to the myriad changes, and it is the ultimate strategy."

  Cao Cao stroked his beard and thought for a moment: "Alright, let's observe the situation quietly for now... Let's first study the issue of taxation."

  In the blink of an eye, a year had passed, and by the spring of Jianping 3rd year, contrary to Cao Cao's and Chen Gong's expectations, although Yuan Shao retreated all the way, even giving up his hometown of Bohai Commandery to Gongsun Zan, wanting to exchange space for time, Gongsun Zan still led a large army southward, directly attacking Ji Province. Yuan Shao went north to resist Gongsun Zan, and Cao Cao also responded to the call, sending troops to the border, where he had a few fierce battles with Liu Bei in the territory of Gaotang.

  The time was not long, the news came, Gongsun Zan was defeated at Jieqiao Bridge and escaped back to Youzhou. Liu Bei heard the news and hastily sent someone to ask Cao Cao for peace. Cao Cao also did not have the strength to swallow Pingyuan Prefecture in one gulp, so under Chen Gong's and Xi Zhen's suggestion, he reluctantly agreed to Liu Bei's request and retreated his troops back to Dongjun's administrative center, Dongwuyang.

  In the fourth month of summer, the Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou made a round trip to Qi and Taishan, suddenly making a big invasion into the belly of Yanzhou, straight to the state capital Changyi. The governor of Yanzhou, Liu Dai, did not listen to the advice of the cavalry captain Bao Xin, hastily sending troops to intercept, resulting in a big defeat, with his head and body separated. Chen Gong took this opportunity to go to the city of Changyi, persuading Bao Xin, Wan Qian, Xu Shu and others, raising flags and drums, welcoming Cao Cao to take over Yanzhou.

  Cao Cao then joined forces with Chenliu Governor Zhang Miao, personally leading 5,000 troops into Changyi. They immediately encountered the massive army of 100,000 Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou in Shouyang County. The two sides engaged in a fierce battle, and Cao Cao's vanguard was almost completely annihilated, with Bao Xin also dying in the fray. However, the momentum of the Yellow Turbans' advance was halted. After that, Cao Cao repeatedly employed clever tactics, winning every battle, and eventually forced the Yellow Turban army to retreat to Suixiang in Jibei Commandery.

  Guan Yu found a "translator" to write a letter to Cao Cao, saying: "You used to be in Jinan, destroying the altar of gods, your way is the same as that of Zhong Huang Taiyi, it seems that you know, but now you are more confused. The Han dynasty has come to an end, and the Yellow family should rise, this is the great destiny of heaven, not something that can be preserved by your talent and strength."

  Cao Cao received the letter and sneered at it: "Whether the Han Dynasty can survive or not, what is the will of heaven? What do you guys understand? Wait for me to come and teach you guys a good lesson."

  Cao Jun's army of over 10,000 soldiers surrounded the million-strong Yellow Turbans - there was no way out. Most of the Yellow Turbans were old, weak, women and children, and the few hundred thousand able-bodied men had long since become weak and feeble due to lack of food and grass, leaving them with little fighting strength. They could hold on for a few more days by defending their position, but if they tried to break through and escape, it would be certain death.

  Cao Cao was planning to besiege for a few more days, waiting for all the enemies to be almost starved before launching a general attack. At this time, Xie Xun spoke up: "After defeating the Yellow Turbans, what do you plan to do with them? Are you going to kill them one by one?"

  Cao Cao said, "I was just thinking about this too. Even if the million Yellow Turbans are mostly old, weak, women and children, and even if they're all starving to death, a cornered beast will still fight back. Our side's losses won't be small either." - "How can you teach me, Zhi?"

  Zuo Ci said: "The land of Qing and Yan has been ravaged by war, with only one in ten remaining. The land is largely deserted. Even if we defeat the Yellow Turbans, it will be difficult for our lord to achieve anything in this desolate place. Why not surrender the Yellow Turbans, let them return to their fields and open up new lands, and use this as a foundation for our lord's revival of the Han dynasty?"

  Cao Cao said, "The other day, Wen Ruo came to me with a letter, also with this intention. It's just that as long as Gan Xi and others are not eliminated, they will eventually become a major disaster. I previously sent someone to persuade them, but they insisted on not surrendering their heads. Who has such a tongue like a magic spell that can move them?"

  Just as he was at a loss for what to do, suddenly there were soldiers at the gate who came to report and handed over a name card: "Bei Hai is Xi, requesting an audience with the master."

  "But wasn't it Huangfu Song who single-handedly defeated the Yellow Turbans?" Xun Yu heard this and was overjoyed, turning to Cao Cao with a bow, "Congratulations, my lord! The surrender of the million-strong Yellow Turban army is all thanks to this man!"

  I am sorry, separator line

  The previous text mentioned Wang Zifawu, saying he was the director of mail under Kong Rong, which is a mistake. The full title should be Director of Mail or Secretary of Mail, while "from" refers to officials such as governors and magistrates. I won't revise the previous chapters, but from this chapter onwards, I will use the correct title. Here, I bow deeply to all readers and say: Sorry! Please forgive me, and if you want to criticize me, please do so with a recommendation ticket.