Although they had long expected that the campaign against Qingzhou would be easy and simple, in fact it was simpler and easier than the Xuzhou army's top brass expected. It was so easy that the northern expedition to Qingzhou was like a collective outing for the Xuzhou army.

There are three reasons why Deputy Director Tao waited for Qianren to feel this way. First, the combat effectiveness of the Northern Navy is too weak. The generals are weak and the soldiers have a serious lack of battlefield experience. The overall combat effectiveness is compared to that of the Xuzhou Army during Tao Qian's period.

They were all slightly inferior - this also made Deputy Director Tao very confused. He couldn't understand how bold Kong Rangli was and how dared to bring such a weak army to Xuzhou to fight against Boss Cao's tiger and wolf army.

?.

The second reason is that the main force in Beihai has been destroyed. According to the Beihai prisoners captured on the battlefield, because the main force has been sent to the plains to reinforce Tian Kai and has been destroyed, Kong Rong spent a lot of effort to fight here and there.

More than 10,000 troops were gathered together and handed over to the beloved general Zongfang to bring to the counties to resist the Xuzhou army's northern invasion. The target cities of the Xuzhou army behind the counties were already temporarily recruited by using steamed buns weighing three to two.

The new soldiers guarding and serving as cannon fodder in battles, and the elite soldiers were all local soldiers from various counties and cities. This is evident from the embarrassment of the troops in Kong Rangli's hands.

The third reason is that Kong Rangli's tactical decision-making was wrong. Even Deputy Director Tao and Jia Laopo, who are so cunning and good at penetrating into people's minds, could not understand that when the main force was destroyed and the troops were stretched thin,

, how could Kong Rangli’s team still have the courage to go out of the city to fight in the field? Send the few precious troops left to the wild battlefield, and let the Xuzhou army, which had already advanced by leaps and bounds, massacre and abuse them indiscriminately? And it made Deputy Director Tao and others dumbfounded.

Yes, according to the prisoner's account, what prompted General Munakata to lead his troops out of the city to fight in the field was an order from Kong Ranrimoto, requiring Munakata not to defend the city and lose the face of the North Navy, and requiring Munakata to take the initiative to fight and display the majesty and prestige of the North Navy.

Unyielding fighting spirit, the result... "Chen Yuanlong is really insightful, and Kong Wenju is indeed stubborn and stubborn. It seems that several wars are inevitable in Qingzhou Beihai."

With such a lament, our deputy director Tao quickly arranged an siege to attack the counties. However, the Beihai garrison in the counties did not give the Xuzhou army a chance to practice their siege capabilities. That night when Zongfang was killed,

, the garrison of the counties, led by Zongfang's deputy Yu Miao, abandoned the city and fled, and cleverly fled to the direction of Donglai, which was not in the Xuzhou army's march route. Chen Ci, the magistrate of the counties, had no choice but to

He opened the city gates and surrendered to the Xuzhou army. Deputy Director Tao accepted the surrender and allowed Chen Ci to continue to serve as the magistrate of various counties. He also divided his troops to pursue Yu Miao and weakened this army as much as possible.

After the counties surrendered, the gate to Beihai was suddenly opened. The Xuzhou army, which had greatly increased in strength, advanced all the way and conquered the four cities of Pingchang, Gumu, Chang'an and Anqiu. Wherever the soldiers went, the Beihai defenders had to open the city and surrender.

They were trampled into pieces and were unable to stop the advance of the Xuzhou army. The Xuzhou army only had less than half a month to arrive at Yingling City. The forward sentry was even more arrogant and domineering and once arrived at Pingshou City, an important town in Beihai.

Shocked, countless soldiers and civilians surrendered. Letters from various counties and cities asking for surrender flew into the Xuzhou army, and half of Beihai fell in an instant.

What really blocked the advance of Xuzhou's army was the hungry people and refugees in Qingzhou. Although Beihai County was undoubtedly the richest county in Qingzhou, there were so many refugees and hungry people in Qingzhou that it was too much for the Qingzhou government.

Even if the annihilation is endless and the killing is endless, the surrounding princes will join in and shout for a fight. Whenever these hungry refugees in Qingzhou show signs of fleeing to other states, whether it is Gongsun Zan, Sangong Dayuan or Cao Lao and Lao Lao.

Tao Qian always sent out heavy troops to intercept and expel these hungry people, fearing that these hungry people would flood into his territory and disrupt the foundation of his rule. Later, Boss Cao changed the campaign to Fuhou and led the Qingzhou soldiers to attack Xuzhou everywhere.

During the arson, a key reason why Qingzhou soldiers brutally massacred dozens of cities was that the Xuzhou army did not give them a spoonful of food before and drove them back to Qingzhou to suffer from hunger.

Opportunity will take revenge.

Deputy Director Tao is not someone who likes to hold grudges - because Deputy Director Tao usually avenges himself immediately. At the same time, the Qingzhou soldiers who massacred the innocent people in Xuzhou are still under the command of Boss Cao and have nothing to do with the hungry refugees in Qingzhou.

In addition, Deputy Director Tao had long planned to organize these hungry refugees to develop the Huaihe River Basin in southern Xuzhou, which was still vast and sparsely populated. To this end, he specially brought Han Hao, the prime minister of Guangling recommended by Chen Deng, with him.

When he arrived in the army, he was given the title of Captain of Diannong and made him responsible for recruiting and organizing these refugees to go south to Guangling and settle in the Huaihe River Basin to open up wasteland. Therefore, Deputy Director Tao rewarded more or less all the hungry refugees who came to join the Xuzhou army.

He drank a bowl of rice soup and spent most of the captured food and grass on these hungry refugees.

Deputy Director Tao soon regretted his merciful decision. After hearing the news that the troops who had defected to Xuzhou had food to eat, the hungry refugees in southern Beihai almost went crazy and rushed to leave their dilapidated homes, which had long been in ruins.

They peeled off tree barks and dug up grass roots all the way, pouring in front of the Xuzhou army like water, and even asked them to do anything as long as they had food to eat. There were even many bands of rogue bandits who had been suppressed by Kong Rangli Qianguo.

He asked to surrender before the Xuzhou army, and volunteered to lead the party and cannon fodder for the siege. He just wanted to have a bite to eat and take the opportunity to avenge the past.

The number of people from Qingzhou who spontaneously came to join Xuzhou's army and the vast number of hungry refugees were so frightening that Deputy Director Tao, who had a long logistics route, had to choose to forget the Taoist spirit and change all the policies to selective care.

Only the most useful young and strong men and women were recruited, while the old and the weak turned a blind eye. But even so, Han Hao's team, who was responsible for tending the refugees and hungry people, was still crowded in front of the camp at any time, and the sound of crying and begging shook the ground, and there were also hungry refugees.

The continuous influx forced Deputy Director Tao to temporarily set a recruitment limit of 60,000 for Han Hao to avoid recruiting too many refugees and hungry people. After arriving in the hinterland of Xuzhou, not only could the Huaihe River Basin not be effectively developed, but

In turn, it became the cause of trouble for the five counties of Xuzhou.

It was also thanks to these hungry refugees that he once hated so much that Kong Rangli gained some breathing time and waited for a response from his ally Tian Kai for help. However, Tian Kai, whose main force had long been destroyed, was almost defeated and returned to Linzi City.

Where can we get the strength to reinforce our allies? So Tian Kai could only say helplessly in his letter to Kong Rangli, "Old man, I am also a clay sculpture crossing the river now and I can't save myself, so you have to ask for more blessings."

Well. Or if it really doesn't work, you can just surrender to Tao Shijun. Your life is better than mine. Your Tao Shijun is of good quality and has been favored by us. It will definitely be okay for you to surrender your wealth, life, and wealth.

, I don’t have as good a life as you, old man Yuan Shao, that has been my nemesis for many years.”

Of course, Kong Rangli had not considered surrendering to the Xuzhou army. Zuo Chengzu, an important official in Beihai, also urged Kong Rangli to surrender honestly to Deputy Director Tao, which could not only save his family and life, but also protect the people under his rule from the ravages of war.

It is a pity that Kong Rangli suddenly had a stubborn and arrogant temper. Not only did the guards kill Zuo Chengzu on the spot, but he also said such crazy words, "I am a minister of the Han Dynasty, guarding the territory for Yaozi, and pastoring all the people, I will die.

I will never bow my knee to the Tao thieves who are rebellious in the country! Insult the innocent reputation of the sage ancestors of the Kong family! From now on, if anyone dares to surrender, Zuo Chengzu will be his fate!"

Kong Rangli's ideals were very full, but the reality was very slim. Within a day after Zuo Chengzu was beheaded, two bad news came to Yingling and Pingshou. The first bad news was

Yingling was broken, and Yingling City, which once blocked the Xuzhou army's march northward and gave Kong Rangli a glimmer of hope, faced the main force of Xuzhou that officially launched the siege. It only lasted for more than half of Bai Yao before being captured by the sharp-edged Xuzhou army.

, the guard Zhao Zuo was chopped into pieces by the Xuzhou camp, and Yingling ordered Zheng Yuan to surrender.

This is not over yet. What makes Kong Rangli even more desperate and angry is that the Pingshou Ling he single-handedly promoted and trained, the famous North Sea scholar Bingyuan Bing Genju, has already joined forces with his fellow villagers before the Xuzhou army arrived in Pingshou.

Guard general Liu Zhengyi rebelled and fell into the warm and broad embrace of Deputy Director Tao first. Not to mention, after the rebellion, Bingyuan Jingran still had the face to write to Kong Rangli, claiming that he was doing it for the people in Pingshou City.

For the sake of the common people, he chose to surrender to Deputy Director Tao, who was a gentleman. He even shamelessly persuaded Kong Rangli to follow his example, open the gates of Ju County earlier, and lead the soldiers and civilians in the city to surrender to Deputy Director Tao, a gentleman.

.

Looking at Kong Rangli with a sad face, he tore Bing Genju's letter to pieces in a rage. In the lobby of Beihai, the famous celebrities whom Kong Rangli had finally invited to visit the thatched cottage were uncharacteristically no longer talking eloquently, criticizing the current ills, or reciting poems.

Fu, all of them were silent as if they were mourning for their heirs. They were just thinking about whether the Xuzhou army would be able to accept their surrender after the county town was destroyed. After surrendering to Deputy Director Tao, would they be able to get a prosperous and prosperous life with Deputy Director Tao?

A handsome horse?

Just at this time, the steward of Kong Rangli's house tiptoed into the lobby, handed a greeting note to Kong Rangli, and whispered carefully: "Master, Mr. Gongyou is here, this is his."

Asking for a visit."

"Mr. Gongyou? That Mr. Gongyou?" The angry Kong Rangli was stunned for a moment, unable to remember anything for a moment.

"Mr. Sun Qian and Sun Gongyou, the one who used to come to the house to smell the fragrance and drink with me." the steward reminded in a low voice.

"I remembered!" Kong Rangli slapped his forehead in sudden realization, and said in surprise: "Didn't Sun Gongyou go to assist Liu Xuande? Why did you remember to visit me, an old man from Beihai? Please, please, oh no,

Therefore, when I come from afar, I should go and greet Sun Gongyou in person! My lords, Sun Qian, who is known as a gentleman, has come. Please go out to greet him."

The thousand celebrities that Kong Rangli finally collected all agreed, and they quickly gathered their energy and got up. As Kong Rangli came to the door to greet Mr. Sun Qian and Sun Gongyou, who was still very famous in Beihai, there was a crowd outside the door.

Sure enough, Mr. Sun Qian, who liked to come here to talk with Kong Rangli most before defecting to Uncle Liu, was indeed outside the door. He was looking at the situation of Kong Rangli's mansion after a long absence with his hands behind his back and smiling. Kong Rangli was overjoyed and hurriedly led the troops.

A thousand celebrities from Beihai came forward to salute, exchanged farewells with Sun Qian, and repeatedly expressed their condolences and care.

How troublesome the red tape and idle chatter among celebrities are, so I won’t waste any words here to introduce them one by one. In short, Kong Rangli and Mr. Sun Qian spent half an hour outside the door, and then they thought of joining hands. After entering the mansion, Kong Rangli argued with Mr. Sun Qian for more than ten minutes over whether to sit down in the meeting hall or go to the Xinglin Garden for a gathering. Finally, it was because Mr. Sun Qian said that he was here on business that he decided to talk in the lobby. , after arriving in the lobby, they argued about the order of seats for more than a quarter of an hour, and finally, after being delayed for more than an hour, Kong asked Mr. Li Cai and Mr. Sun Qian to sit down respectively, and began to turn to the main topic.

"Your Majesty, Qian came to Qingzhou with Duke Xuande this time." After getting to the point, Sun Qian stopped being wordy and said straight to the point: "Yao Zi issued an imperial edict and ordered my lord Liu Xuande to follow Cao Cao. Duke Xuande sent troops to Qingzhou to attack Tian Kai, although my lord Xuande thought of it 1

i love, can't bear to be with the past

i Youtian envoy Jun and Kong Guoxiang met with swords and soldiers, but Yaozi's edict must not be violated. To disobey it is to rebel against the decree. You must not follow General Cao Ren to Qingzhou just now. If you offend, I will ask Kong Guoxiang to forgive you."

All the celebrities present closed their mouths and said nothing. Kong Rangli pursed his lips and remained silent. After a long time, he sighed: "It doesn't matter, don't talk about Liu Xuande. Tao Mingwu was saved by Rong, so he didn't come with his thieves." I repaid my kindness with my revenge, and my attacks were more ruthless than anyone else's, and I took away seven cities in Beihai in just over half a month."

After sighing, Kong Rangli also recited a new poem he had written based on his own feelings, and slowly chanted: "Send off new travelers from far away, and come back at the end of the year. When you come to see your beloved son, your wives and concubines will be sad. When you hear about your son, you will be sad." visible,

I have hidden my brilliance. The solitary grave is in the northwest, and I often think that you are late. I go up to the ruins in my clothes, but I see wormwood and weeds. My bones return to the Yellow Spring, and my body flies away in the dust. I didn’t know my father when I was alive, but after I die, I will know who I am. I am alone. My soul is wandering in the twilight of my life, wandering around in my safe place. When I enter life, I will continue to rest, and when I die, I will pursue it. I look down and feel sad, and I don’t feel the tears staining my clothes. I have my own destiny when I enter life, but I hate life.

i hope…….”

The song reached an emotional point, but in fact Kong Rangli, who had already been heartbroken for a long time, could not help but choke in his voice, and tears flashed in his eyes. A large group of famous celebrities recruited by Kong Rangli also wiped away their tears, accompanying Kong Rangli, his parents who had food and clothing, and Kong Rangli shared his sorrow. Mr. Sun Qian, who had shared the hardships with Uncle Liu for a long time, also sighed, but began to secretly rejoice in his heart, "Well, it seems that Mr. Zhongde has predicted the situation. Kong Wenju really hates Tao Ying for being a thief."

After finally waiting for Kong Rangli to finish feeling sad and regain some of his emotions, Mr. Sun Qian hurriedly comforted Kong Rangli with a few hypocritical words, and then deliberately asked out of curiosity: "When I just entered the city, I saw people supporting the elderly everywhere outside the city. People who are taking refuge with their children, dare to ask the Prime Minister, where has Tao Mingwu reached so far? How far is it from the capital of Juxian County?"

Kong Rangli was silent again, and the master Bo Wangxiu, who was familiar with Mr. Sun Qian, answered on Kong Rangli's behalf: "To be honest with you, I received the news in the afternoon that Bing Genju and Liu Zheng, who had a long life, were ungrateful to their master. Shamelessly surrendering to the Tao Yingjiān bandits, the Tao bandit vanguard has also arrived in Pingshou, less than forty miles away from Juxian County.

i, the army of the Tao thieves is about to descend on Ju County."

"This... so fast?" Sun Qian's expression finally changed, and he said tremblingly: "Tao's army was sent out from Pengcheng on May 15th. Today, it's only June 14th, and Tao's army has already arrived. Take Pingshou and approach within forty miles of Ju County?!"

This time Wang Xiu was speechless, and Kong Rangli sighed: "I only hate that clan, Yu Miao and others are incompetent, and Bingyuan Liu Zheng and his like are shameless, so they allowed the Tao Ying thief to advance so quickly. If I had known what would happen

i, when... oh, I regret it, I regret it, o."

"It's no less regretful that you have entered into it than you did when you first entered. Wen Ju Gong, you entered into it. It is much more regretful than you did after entering into it. So, Lord Wen Ju, just be content."

Thinking of the gnashing of teeth and regrets that Boss Cao and Uncle Liu had every time they mentioned Deputy Director Tao, Mr. Sun Qian couldn't help but comfort his old friend quietly in his heart, and asked: "If you dare to ask a question like this, how dare you ask the Prime Minister?" , what will the Prime Minister do when Tao Yingjiān’s bandits arrive at the city?”

"What else can we do?" Kong Rangli laughed bitterly and said in a bitter voice: "Rong has been favored by the country for a long time and has been deprived of his fortune. When the rebellious ministers and traitors who want to avenge his kindness come to the city, Rong can only go into battle in person and raise his troops. Fight to the death with him, repay the favor of the country, and live up to Li Shu."

"What Duke Wenju said is wrong." Sun Qian shook his head and said seriously: "If Duke Wenju thinks so, he is absolutely wrong! The Tao thieves are cruel and have many minions under their command. The Xuzhou thieves have surrendered. They rebelled against the Yellow Turbans of Yuzhou, Lu Bu of Bingzhou, Dong Zhuo of Xiliang and other wolf armies. Their military strength has already advanced by leaps and bounds. It is not what it used to be. Even if Wen Jugong brought the entire army of Ju County to fight against him, he would still be more ferocious than before. No chance of victory - If Duke Wenju made a mistake on the battlefield, wouldn't it mean that the people of Jixian County and thousands of creatures in Beihai would have been allowed to be killed and poisoned by the Xuzhou bandit army? If this was the case, how could Duke Wenju be considered as repaying the country's kindness? , can you live up to Li Shu?"

In fact, Kong Rangli, who didn't have the guts to personally lead his army in a decisive battle with Deputy Director Tao, hesitated for a moment, took the opportunity to go down the steps and nodded, saying: "Sun Gongyou's lesson is that Rong is wrong. It's just that Tao's thieves have sharp swords and Rong." Even if we close the city and defend it, we may not be able to escape in the end."

"Don't worry, Mr. Wen Ju. I have a plan. If you act according to it, the Tao thief will definitely be able to restrain his hands and dare not even take a look at the theater city." Sun Qian took the opportunity and said.

"What's Gongyou's clever plan? Please tell me quickly." Kong Rangli asked happily.

"It's very simple. Please ask Duke Wenju to surrender to Duke Cao and dedicate the city of Ju County to Duke Cao."

Sun Qian's answer made Kong Rangli's face change color immediately, and Kong Rangli slapped the crime scene on the spot, and said angrily: "Well, you are Sun Gongyou, because you are 1

Friend, I treat you with courtesy. I don’t think that Ru Jing is here to act as a lobbyist for Cao Cao’s thieves, and you want to make me do the unkind and unjust thing of betraying the country and forgetting the emperor? How courageous you are!”

"Gong Wenju misunderstood." Sun Qian showed no fear and said with a smile: "I am not here to persuade Duke Wenju to surrender to Cao, but to ask Duke Wenju to surrender to Han."

"Persuade me to surrender to the Han?" Kong Rangli was stunned.

"That's right." Sun Qian nodded and said with a smile: "Yaozi moved the capital to Xuchang, named Cao Gong Mengde as prime minister, appointed the virtuous prime minister as the emperor, the emperor and his ministers shared political affairs, and the public was a Han minister. Wouldn't surrendering to Cao be the same as surrendering to the Han? After the Duke surrendered to the Han Dynasty, Duke Cao's banner was displayed in Jucheng, which was the city under Cao Gong's rule. The traitor Tao Ying was both a Han official and an ally of Cao Gong in the crusade against Qingzhou. How could he dare to attack Jucheng again? Wait until now. When General Cao Ren's army came to Ju County, Wen Ju opened the city to welcome the Han Dynasty's Yao soldiers into the city. Then he went with General Cao Ren to Xuchang to see Yao Zi and ask for rewards and titles. All the monarchs and ministers were righteous. Didn't the Duke also repay Yao Zijun? Well? You protected all the people in this Juxian County again?"

Although Kong Rangli was pedantic, Kong Rangli could still hear the subtext of Sun Qian's words. Sun Qian's words sounded high-sounding, but in fact, he would rather hand over Juxian County to Boss Cao than let the wolf-hearted Deputy Director Tao take revenge. Let's go, even if Juxian County is not saved in the end, Deputy Director Tao can be greatly disgusted before he falls. Deputy Director Tao drooled over the money and food piled up in Juxian County, the base camp of Beihai County, and did not dare to snatch these already Money and food belonging to allies. So after understanding this implication, Kong Rangli, who actually hated Deputy Director Tao even more, was inevitably very moved and began to waver.

After hesitating for a long time, Kong Rangli asked hesitantly: "I surrendered to Cao..., after I surrendered to Han, did the Tao Yingjiān thief really dare not even take a peek at Jixian County?"

"Don't worry, Duke Wenju. The Tao thieves will never have the guts to destroy the alliance between the three families of Cao, Yuan and Tao, and start a war between Cao and Tao." Sun Qian nodded and said with a smile: "To be honest with Duke Wenju, General Cao Ren has actually been in front of Yuan Shao. After obtaining the mission to block the North Sea reinforcements and attack Ju County, not only General Cao Ren will lead his army to Ju County in person, but Young Master Yuan Tan, who is also good with Cao Gong, will also lead his army to Ju County. As long as Wen Ju Gong leads Ju County, The entire army and people in the county have surrendered to Duke Cao, and even if the traitor Tao Ying had a hundred courages, he would not dare to touch any plant or tree in the theater city!"

Smiling, Sun Qian took out a letter from his arms and said with a smile again: "What offends Wen Ju Gong is that in order to help Wen Ju Gong resist the army of Tao thieves and force the Tao thieves to restrain themselves in Jixian City, General Cao Ren and Mr. Cheng Yu has already written a letter to the Tao Ying thief in the name of a friendly army, explaining that Wen Jugong has led all the soldiers and civilians in Ju County to surrender to Cao Gong, and asked the Tao thief to fulfill the three families' covenant and not to invade any soil or stone in the Ju County city. Every plant and tree! If Duke Wen Ju is willing, he only needs to send this letter to the Xuzhou Army to hand over to the Tao thief, and then fly the banner of Duke Cao on the Ju County City. The Ju County City and the people in the city will be safe. It’s like Mount Tai.”

Kong Rangli was greatly moved, and his expression became even more hesitant. Sitting at the table, he still sighed to himself, unable to make up his mind.

Sun Qian observed the situation and saw that the fire was coming, so he spoke incitingly: "Mr. Wen Ju, has he forgotten his kindness in rescuing Xuzhou? And has he forgotten that the Tao thief recommended him and drove him out of Xuzhou? Tao Zeifeng avenged his kindness, and Yuan Benchu ​​raised an army in vain to annex Qingzhou, but Cao Gong repaid the past.

Due to the grace of Duke Yuan, I was forced to send troops to Qingzhou. Is it possible that Duke Yuan can't tell who is better and who is worse?!"
Chapter completed!