Vol 2 Chapter 2899: The army was distracted by civil strife, and Cao Ren was forcibly captured.

Vol 2 Chapter 2899: The army was distracted by civil strife, and Cao Ren was forcibly captured.

Chapter 2899 Civil strife encircled the army, and Cao Ren was forcibly surrendered (final)

Chapter 2895: Civil strife encircled the army, and Cao Ren was forcibly surrendered (final)

Looking at the chaotic crowd below, Cao Ren knew that if he didn't come up with an explanation to convince these people, he might not even be able to pass today's test, so he said in a deep voice: "Please be quiet."

Cao Ren's prestige in the army is still very high, otherwise Cao Cao would not let him lead the army.

Hearing Cao Ren's words, all the generals subconsciously shut up, wanting to hear what Cao Ren would say next.

At this time, most of the traitors, whether they had contact with Heibingtai or Cao's generals who had not had contact with him, hoped that Cao Ren would take the initiative to surrender. After all, there is no food and grass now, so we can't go to the battlefield hungry. It's a pity. Cao Ren's words still disappointed them.

"Although the Qin army sent people to burn food, due to the timely rescue by the governor, our army's losses were not too great. The food dug out so far can last for a month, and there is still more food that has not been dug out. , so you don’t have to worry about food and grass at all.”

As soon as Cao Ren said this, there was naturally an uproar. After all, they were not blind. Even if such a big fire was put out, how could they save so much food?

I'm afraid you, Cao Ren, are fooling us into thinking we are fools!

Naturally, Cao Zhen didn't believe a word of what Cao Ren said, but he was a thorn in Cao Ren's side. Naturally, he didn't dare to publicly lick his beard to give Cao Ren a chance to deal with himself, so he quietly gave him the same Linghu Shao, who was the traitor, winked and asked him to act as his mouthpiece to question Cao Ren.

After understanding this, Linghu Shao couldn't help but groan secretly, but he still stood up and questioned openly: "Grand Governor, it's not that the general doesn't believe you, but that the basement is not easy to catch fire. Once a fire breaks out, it is difficult to put out, but it is so big." The governor not only extinguished it, but also rescued most of the food and grass. This is really hard to believe. "

As soon as Linghu Shao said this, many generals who felt it made sense nodded and agreed: "Yes, yes."

Seeing that public opinion began to favor Linghu Shao, Dong Zhao immediately spoke: "Everyone, please listen to the Governor. I believe he will not lie to us on this matter."

Dong Zhao was capable of both literary and military skills and became the prefect of Chenliu. His prestige was also not low. His words of speaking for Cao Ren also made everyone naturally trust him more.

Cao Ren stared at Linghu Shao with a pair of tiger eyes. He looked at Linghu Shao and made him groan secretly and feel angry. However, he still looked at him without flinching. This also made Cao Ren even more vigilant.

Linghu Shao only had two thousand troops in his hands, which was not too much, but his rebellion showed a general trend, that is, the morale of the army was unstable and the hearts of the people were floating. If Cao Ren could not stabilize the situation, the rebels would definitely He will become more and more tired, and he will be completely unable to control the situation.

With this thought, Cao Ren could not reveal his inner cowardice. He put his hands behind his back and said calmly:

“General Linghu, you only know that the underground grain and grass are equipped with fire protection, so it is not easy to catch fire, and once the fire breaks out, it is not easy to extinguish. But you know that there is a way to extinguish the fire once and for all.”

As soon as these words came out, not only Cao Zhen and Linghu Shao, but also Zheng Hun and He Kui were shocked.

Especially Zheng Hun, who designed and built the Chenliu underground granary. How could he, the designer, not know about this method of extinguishing fires?

Cao Ren did not deliberately whet everyone's appetite, and immediately told the generals exactly what he had done by digging up the grain depot and extinguishing the fire once and for all.

After listening to what Cao Ren said, Cao Zhen, Zheng Hun and others were all dumbfounded. Obviously, they did not expect that Cao Ren could come up with such a unique way to put out the fire. However, someone soon raised questions, and this time the person who stood up was Cao Yun. .

"But extinguishing the fire on the ground and digging down the basement is not a small project. I'm afraid that the fire last night has burned for so long. Even if we extinguish the fire by digging down the basement and burying it, there will really be something left. Do you need so much food?"

Cao Yun is Cao Bin's father, and he has always been a die-hard loyalist to Cao Wei before, but now he stands up to question Cao Ren, which shows that his position has also wavered.

What Cao Yun said was certainly reasonable, and Cao Ren did not give the generals a chance to question him further, and immediately explained: "You generals do not know that the grain and grass in the basement granary are stored separately. Even if it is ignited, Part of it cannot be burned in a short time.

Facing the fire last night, the governor dispatched a total of 30,000 troops. It took two hours to extinguish the fire on the ground and three hours to dig down the basement. Only then could most of the food and grass be saved.

If you still don’t believe it, you can go to Xinliangcao to check it out and you will know its authenticity. "

Cao Ren's words are actually not very convincing. Although the generals don't know much about how to manage underground granaries, they do know that in five hours, how could they not even burn half of the grain?

But Cao Ren generously asked people to check, which obviously frightened the generals. They all thought that although Cao Ren's words were exaggerated, they must have saved a lot of food. In fact, there would be no food in a short time. Risk of food shortage.

 Under the leadership of Cao Ren, the generals moved to the new grain depot one after another. Based on the previous lessons, Cao Ren arranged a large number of troops to garrison this time and surrounded the new grain depot.

 After opening the hatch, what came into view was a mountain-like pile of sacks, which were even filled with the aroma of rice and wheat burned by fire. If it was really all grains, then Cao Ren was indeed not lying.

Cao Zhen naturally had doubts when he saw this, but he didn't dare to check it himself, so he quietly winked at Linghu Shao, preparing to let him verify it.

After Linghu Shao understood this, he resisted the urge to curse in his heart, then he pulled out the knife from his waist, stepped forward and stabbed three sacks, and what was exposed inside was indeed food.

Linghu Shao wanted to stop right there, but after turning his head and seeing the look in Cao Zhen's eyes, he had no choice but to bite the bullet, move the outermost pole, and poke five more sacks, but it turned out that there was still food inside.

Just when Linghu Shao was confused about this, Cao Ren's gloomy voice appeared next to his ears.

“How is it, General Linghu, are you relieved now? Are you disappointed that I have saved so much food?”

Hearing this, Linghu Shao Dunsi broke out in a cold sweat and said quickly: "No, no, I just want to be careful, so that all the generals can rest assured. After all, digging the ground to save food is something that has never been done before. The governor can be regarded as a pioneering work."

 Linghu Shao was quite clever. His words not only cleared up his own suspicions, but also gave Cao Ren a horse of some size.

Although Cao Ren wanted to chop Linghu Shao into pieces immediately, it was definitely not the moment. The most important thing now was to appease the generals.

After taking the generals away from the granary, Cao Ren was completely relieved. If Linghu Shao had been asked to move a few more floors inside, Dong Zhao's plan of using sand to replenish food might have been exposed, because the food inside It was all filled with sandbags, but I was able to fool it for the time being.

Before leaving, Cao Ren looked at Dong Zhao specifically and asked him if he wanted to take this opportunity to capture Cao Zhen first. However, Dong Zhao shook his head and told him not to startle the enemy.

Even if Cao Zhen is killed, Cao Bing will immediately take over his military power. Coupled with Cao Youwen and Cao Youwan's troops, a head-on confrontation will only hurt both sides.

After Dong Zhao's reminder, Cao Ren calmly did not take action, but he had a vague hunch in his heart that if he let Cao Zhen go this time, he would never have a chance to win against the opponent.

After Cao Zhen returned to his camp, he immediately summoned his son Cao Bing and the broken-armed Cao Youwan. He said angrily: "The Black Ice Platform was missed. Cao Ren dug up the grain depot and extinguished the fire in the basement. The food he rescued It's enough to support the defenders for a month."

"What?"

 Cao Bing and Cao Youwan first exclaimed, and then they both looked horrified. After all, if Cao Ren could last for a month, he would definitely deal with them during this period. They may not be able to last for a month. “Dad, what should we do now?”

Cao Bing was still young after all, and he couldn't hold himself back and said, "Why don't we just rebel? Losing our reputation is better than losing our lives."

Cao Zhen was furious when he heard this, and immediately reprimanded: "Stupid, a tree has a skin, and a person has a face." Yu Qian, the prefect of Liaodong in the Qin Dynasty, even wrote a poem: Don't be afraid of your bones being broken into pieces, you must leave your innocence in the world;

Bing'er, you have firmly remembered me as a father. Your name is much more important than your destiny. "

Cao Bing knew that his father was a man who valued reputation more than his life. When his father was angry, he naturally did not dare to refute, so he could only bow his head and admit his mistake.

Cao Zhen let his son go when he saw this, and immediately said: "Although Cao Ren saved a lot of food, it was not enough to completely restore people's hearts. After all, the food and grass will always be eaten up. What will happen in a month?"

After burning the grain this time, even Cao Yun, the old man, was shaken, let alone others. The top priority should be to win more people to our side. Cao Ren naturally did not dare to take action. "

Hearing this, Cao Bing looked excited and said: "Dad, you are going to have a head-on fight with Cao Ren."

Cao Zhen nodded. He was indeed going to face off against Cao Ren. He definitely didn't have the guts before because it was seeking death, but Ren Qianxing's list gave him the confidence.

Heibingtai has already paved the way for him. With such a huge advantage, if he still can't defeat Cao Ren, then he is indeed a bit too incompetent.

At the same time, outside Chenliu City, in the Qin Army camp, Bai Qi, Jia Xu, Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Li Cunxiao and other senior Qin Army officials gathered together and were listening to the intelligence sent back from the city.

"What? You said that Cao Ren extinguished the fire by digging down the basement and saved most of the grain in the granary?" Bai Qi asked with a look of astonishment on his face.

"Yes."

As soon as these words came out, everyone present was surprised. It is very common to divert water to put out fires, but Cao Ren was the first to do so by digging the ground to put out fires.

“Military advisor, before you came up with the plan, did you think that Cao Ren would use this method to put out the fire?” Li Cunxiao asked jokingly.

Jia Xu shook his head with a look of disapproval, and then said: "Cao Ren's strategy is average, but he is somewhat quick-witted at critical moments, but that's all."

 “Oh? What do you mean by this?” Li Cunxiao asked in confusion.

“He falsely claimed that he had saved most of the food and grass. This must be a lie. After all, the fire burned for five hours. Even if he could save that much food and grass, he would not be able to save that much food.”

　　At this point, a sneer appeared on Jia Xu's lips and he said: "If what I expected is correct, Cao Ren must have used sand and soil as food to fool the generals of Cao's army, thus temporarily appeasing people's hearts.

Next, Cao Ren will definitely kill chickens to scare monkeys, and the best targets are Cao Zhen and Cao Youwen, so as to frighten the generals in the army. "

Bai Qidian nodded and immediately ordered: "Immediately send a message to Mrs. A Qing, asking her to remind Cao Zhen not to fall into Cao Ren's plan, and to evacuate Cao Ren as soon as possible. The governor hopes that Cao Ren can personally leave the city and surrender before your majesty comes." ”

The showdown between Cao Zhen and Cao Ren was unfair from the beginning.

With Jia Xu and Hei Bingtai as his backers, Cao Zhen can be said to have every opportunity and advantage.

On the other hand, Cao Ren was like a hard-working tailor, constantly repairing this broken ship that was destined to sink.

Cao Ren wanted to force Cao Zhen and Cao Youwen out of the military camp in the name of righteousness, but both of them knew that they would not be able to come back once they left. Naturally, they would rather fight than go out. At the same time, he also sent people to win over some wavering generals. This directly caused Cao's army to split into two camps.

Under Cao Zhen and Cao Youwen's efforts to quarrel with each other and the promise of huge sums of money, most of the generals of Cao's army succumbed to their side. Even Cao Yun chose to give in and decided not to help the two when they started fighting.

 At this point, Cao Zhen and Cao Youwen have controlled 80% of the troops in Chenliu City, and are only one step away from completely evacuating Cao Ren.

On the fifth day after burning the grain, Cao Zhen and Cao Youwen, together with Cao Youwan, Cao Bing, Cao Can, Yang Xun, Yan Ming, Linghu Shao, Zheng Hun, He Kui and others, forced their way into the camp due to the insufficient supply of grain and grass. He entered the prefect's mansion and forced Cao Ren into the palace.

 “Great Governor, you have deceived everyone by using sand as food.” Cao Youwen said with a sneer.

Cao Ren didn't even look at Cao Youwen. Instead, he looked at Cao Can, Yang Xun, Yan Ming, He Kui, Zheng Hun and other generals behind him with a disappointed expression. Apparently he did not expect that these people would betray him.

Cao Ren knew that he had lost all his people and the situation was over, and there was no point in continuing to resist, so he immediately prepared to draw his sword and kill himself in order to gain the last dignity for himself.

Cao Zhen and others were shocked when they saw this. After all, Cao Ren could not die. Once he died, Jia Xu's heart-wrenching plan would fail, but it would be too late to organize.

But as soon as Cao Ren drew his sword, he was interrupted by someone behind him. The person who interrupted him was actually his eldest son, Cao Tai.

Cao Ren looked at this strange son in disbelief, while Cao Tai could only smile bitterly and said: "Dad, the child doesn't want to die yet."

At this time, Cao Ren was completely desperate. He didn't want to fight with his own son, so he didn't make any resistance and allowed everyone to swarm him and tie him into a rice dumpling.

Cao Zhen and Cao You were completely relieved when they heard that Cao Ren was captured alive. After all, Cao Ren was not weak. If he really resisted desperately, they might not be able to capture him alive if they joined forces.

After Cao Zhen had Cao Ren escorted away, he said to Cao Tai: "Nephew, I have wronged you this time, but you have to issue the order to surrender to Kaicheng on your father's behalf."

Cao Tai nodded silently. It was impossible for his father Cao Ren to give this order himself, but if he, the eldest son, gave it, the effect would be the same.

Whether Cao Ren surrenders or not, he must be surrendered, because only "he" can issue the surrender order and let Cao Ren shoulder everything, so that others will not have to bear the infamy.

   Second update added

　　

　　

 (End of this chapter)