Three Kingdoms: I, the Emperor of Wei, am loyal and pure!

As Yuan Shao vomited blood and died, the Hebei army fled or surrendered. The first snow in the winter of the second year of Jian'an fell.

It seems that because this delayed snow came later than before, the snow came very quickly!

After Cao Cao reunited with Cao Ang and his son, looking at the heavy snow in the night, he ordered the entire army to stop pursuing the defeated troops in Hebei, and asked the soldiers to collect the surrendered troops and return to the camp to keep warm.

Fortunately, food and grass are already in supply in Cao's camp.

Moreover, Cao Ang first seized more than 3 million shi of grain from Chaoge, and then attacked Yuan Shao's camp, and obtained 500,000 shi of rations for hundreds of thousands of Yuan's troops for most of the month, which can be said to be sufficient food and grass.

Therefore, corn porridge was widely supplied to the soldiers.

The horses of the two armies that were injured and died in the daytime battle were also picked up and cooked in soup and porridge. Sprinkle some coarse salt on it and it was a steaming meal of meat porridge!

Although it is unavoidable that there is a fishy smell, for ordinary soldiers in this era, it is already more abundant than the Chinese New Year!

In troubled times, natural and man-made disasters and wars continue, and food and grass are in short supply. It is difficult to eat a bowl of thick porridge on weekdays, let alone meat porridge?

Therefore, the officers and soldiers of Cao's army all ate enthusiastically, and the excitement of waiting for rewards after a great victory made them look forward to the New Year of the third year of Jian'an with great anticipation!

This year, I, my parents, my wife and my children at home can all have a good year!

In the past, this was something that was almost unthinkable!

People of this era often refer to the New Year as the New Year's Eve.

It’s because the Chinese New Year is a cold and bleak time of the year.

The wealthy families of aristocratic families spend the New Year with plenty of food and clothing, but to the point where the wealthy families are stinking of wine and meat.

However, ordinary people's homes are often hungry and cold, and they are in danger of freezing to death and starving to death!

What's more, one year's harvest is not enough to make ends meet, and one has to borrow money from powerful landlords.

The Chinese New Year is also the most urgent time to collect debts, and it is important to pay attention to the fact that debts do not exceed the Chinese New Year.

Therefore, for the people at the bottom, celebrating the New Year is often like overcoming difficulties, which is called the New Year's Eve!

Things were better in the peaceful years. Since Emperor Huan and Emperor Ling, the world has been in chaos, and the people are really in dire straits. Otherwise, a Yellow Turban Rebellion would not have brought down so many people.

Even after the death of Emperor Ling, Liu Bian, the young emperor of the Han Dynasty, and Liu Xie, the emperor of the Han Dynasty, succeeded to the throne. Dong Zhuo rebelled against the capital and then died violently. The heroes of the world competed for the throne, and the war continued, and everyone was devastated.

The number of household registrations in the world has decreased by at least 30% in the past few years! Level 22 was almost completely beaten to pieces, with not even a single living person left!

Some of the ministers and officials also died of starvation in the wilderness...

As soldiers, most of the time they could barely make ends meet, but sometimes even soldiers had no food to eat.

For example, before and after the Battle of Puyang, a locust plague broke out in the Central Plains of Guandong. The harvest was almost impossible that year. Cao Cao and Lu Bu on both sides of the war were almost cut off from food and grass.

That's why Cheng Yu called the butcher's shop and used his hometown elders as rations to supply Cao's army...

It's not just the case here with Cao Cao. Liu Bei was defeated by Yuan Shu, and then Lu Bu captured Xuzhou, so he had to lead his troops to Haixi.

At one time, he was so embarrassed that his food and grass were cut off, and his officers and soldiers were eating each other...

This was not true for the soldiers holding weapons in their hands, let alone the unarmed people...

Therefore, after experiencing these years of troubled times, these Cao Jun soldiers knew how to eat better. A full meal is valuable!

At this moment, in the wind and snow, leaning against the tent around the campfire, eating thick and hot meat porridge, and there is no need to fight again this year, this feeling of relaxation and warmth after the war is very comfortable.

It is also a rare warm moment in troubled times.

At this moment, even those soldiers who had been subordinates of the princes, were defeated and surrendered by Cao Ang, and had recently joined Cao's army, their hearts were filled with a sense of security and happiness.

I have great respect and admiration for the general Cao Ang who led them to a great victory and allowed them to rest and drink porridge calmly here!

Even to the point of fanatical worship!

If Cao Ang asked them to enter the palace now and pull the emperor off the dragon throne, they would do it without hesitation and add Cao Ang's yellow robe!

Wearing armor and a cloak, Cao Ang patrolled the camp. Wherever he passed, the soldiers looked at him with fervent admiration. The soldiers all stood up with bowls in their hands and shouted enthusiastically for the general.

This made Cao Ang's heart extremely hot!

In troubled times, the morale of the military is even more important than the morale of the people!

At this moment, the hearts of hundreds of thousands of troops belong to Cao Ang. Cao Ang is already invincible in the world!

Moreover, what Cao Ang gained was not just the hearts of 300,000 Cao troops.

Cao Ang did not discriminate or mistreat the Hebei troops of Jiang Qi, Zhang He, Gao Lan and others who surrendered, totaling hundreds of thousands of people, but instead provided some relatively thin meat.

It's just that it's impossible to control them like Cao Jun. Before they are completely included, the prisoners must still look like prisoners.

It can also make the officers and soldiers of Cao's army consciously develop a sense of honor and superiority, and make the captives feel envious, so that they can perform well and strive to integrate into Cao's army as soon as possible.

But even if Cao Ang gave Yuan Jun some thin meat porridge, it would be enough to make Yuan Jun's officers and men feel at ease and fearless.

After all, as a prisoner, it would be good if he was not given bran in many cases. At most, he was given some thin porridge and water that could be used to look in the mirror. How could he be treated like meat and porridge if he was hanging on for his life?

Cao Ang treated them like this, which is rare in the world, and he was much more benevolent and righteous than other princes!

Even when Yuan Jun's soldiers were under Yuan Shao's command, they almost never ate meat porridge!

Therefore, among the prisoners who surrendered to the Yuan army, they gradually lost their fear of being defeated, and even began to praise General Cao Ang's benevolence and righteousness.

Even the generals such as Zhang He, Gao Lan and Jiang Qi said with emotion:"Although the general is young, he is talented in martial arts, civilized, Taoist and military, and is the best in the world. After such a great victory, he did not show off his power and abused his subordinates. Soldiers, you still treat them so favorably.

You are truly the masters of benevolence and righteousness!"

Of course, Zhang He, Gao Lan, and Jiang Qi, as generals who surrendered on their own initiative, were naturally treated differently from ordinary soldiers, and they received sufficient preferential treatment.

At this moment, I just saw how Cao Ang treated Yuan Jun's prisoners, and I sighed from the bottom of my heart, and I admired Cao Ang even more.

At the same time, he was determined to serve General Cao Ang from now on.

Even Ju Shou and Tian Feng couldn't help but be moved when they saw such a scene.

Although Jushou was unwilling to surrender, he stroked his beard and sighed:"Looking at Cao Zixiu's journey, he showed great wisdom and courage, but also great benevolence and righteousness. He was not inferior to Guangwu of the Han Dynasty. It is unbelievable that our lord was defeated by such a son of heaven. No more injustice……"

With Cao Ang's actions and the appeasement of Zhang He, Gao Lan, Xu You and others who came to surrender, hundreds of thousands of Yuan's troops surrendered, and they felt relieved.

Three days later, the heavy snow stopped.

The work of cleaning the battlefield and counting the results of the battle, which had been delayed due to wind and snow, has also begun.

Hundreds of thousands of Yuan's troops surrendered. Thanks to Cao Ang's"benevolence and righteousness" in the past three days, almost no one died of freezing or starvation. After the snow stopped, they took on the work of clearing the snow, cleaning the battlefield, burying corpses, and opening roads..

The soldiers of Cao's army separated some of them, counted and transported the baggage from the camp of Yuan's army, and transported it to Xudu first.

In addition, Cao Hong, Xu Huang and other 100,000 soldiers and horses were sent, pulling all the chariots and horses in the army, to Wang Yanzhang and Zhang Liao who were staying at Chaoge, and transferred the three million stones of grain and grass stationed in Chaoge.

Fortunately, after the heavy snowfall, the weather has completely cooled down, and the Yellow River has become more than a foot frozen. There is no need to build a pontoon bridge, and it is very convenient for cars and horses to cross directly.

A large part of the grain and grass shipped from Chaoge will be shipped directly back to Xudu as a legacy for the Cao family and his son.

The other small part will be placed in the Yangwu jujube area as a supply station for Cao's army's northern expedition after the beginning of spring.

Then there will be no need to transport grain and grass from Xudu.

Just these counts and transfers kept Cao Cao, Cao Ang, his father and son, and their shogunate staff busy for many days.

And in these days, even if there was wind and snow, Cao Cao and his son Cao Ang defeated the Hebei army, especially the news that Cao Ang defeated the Yuan army with less and defeated the elite of Yuan army head-on, and cursed Yuan Shao to death before the two armies fought on the battlefield. As if it had wings, it spreads to all directions!

The first to get the news must be Jizhou and Qingzhou!

As Guo Tu, Shen Pei, Feng Ji, Meng Dai and others fled back with more than 300,000 defeated troops, the news of Yuan's army's defeat and Yuan Shao's death spread like wildfire in Jizhou along with the defeated army's path..

Various emotions such as panic, vacillation, despair, and hesitation also spread among the civil and military soldiers, civilians, and powerful families in Jizhou.

Some of the more flexible civil and military officials and aristocratic families in Jizhou even thought of sending people to Cao Ying to show their goodwill to the Cao family and his son and to be willing to help.

There are also some who are undecided and plan to wait and see. (To read Baoshuang novels, go to Feilu Novel Network!)

There were even some bandit forces that existed near Jizhou, such as the Black Mountain Bandit Zhang Yan, the Yellow Turban remnant Sui Gu, and others. They also took this opportunity to fight out of the mountains. , plundered the cities of Jizhou and caused chaos everywhere.

Even some defeated Yuan troops who fled back on their own did not return to Yecheng at all, but directly occupied counties and established their own banners...

Most of Jizhou was almost in chaos!

In Yecheng, Yuan Shao's second son Yuan Xi and third son Yuan Shang learned that their father Yuan Shao had been defeated and died. Of the nearly 600,000 troops, more than 200,000 had either died or fallen into the hands of Cao's army.

There were only more than 300,000 remaining defeated soldiers, and when they fled back in several batches over the mountains and plains, they were almost scared out of their wits!

Yuan Xi has a rather gloomy personality, shivering and can barely stand.

Yuan Shang also looked frightened and didn't know what to do.

However, under the advice of Xun Chen, Guo Yuan and other civil and military officials who stayed in Yecheng, Yuan Shang still took the banner of succeeding as the Lord of Hebei and issued a notice to appease the people of Yecheng.

At the same time, he ordered the defeated troops in Hebei to gather towards Yecheng.

With Guo Tushen teaming up with Ji Xinping and others, he returned to Yecheng with a large group of more than 200,000 defeated troops, which made Yecheng not empty. At least Yecheng and nearby counties were temporarily stable.

Shen Pei, Feng Ji, Xin Ping, Chen Lin and others also followed Yuan Shao's last orders before his death, supported Yuan Shang as the new master, and officially succeeded to the throne in Yecheng.

He also announced that a day would be chosen for the funeral of the late owner Yuan Shao.

But Guo Tu secretly had his thoughts in mind.

He had previously invested in the eldest son Yuan Tan because Yuan Shang was young.

Now, because Yuan Shao dotes on his youngest son Yuan Shang, he makes Yuan Shang his heir, making Yuan Shang continue to be in Yecheng.[]

This certainly benefited Shen Pei and others who had good relations with Yuan Shang before.

But it is very unfriendly to Guo Tu...

Yuan Shang's succession means that Guo Tu's previous investment, Yuan Tan Chengkong, will also be marginalized in front of the new owner Yuan Shang!

This was unacceptable to Guo Tu.

So Guo Tu secretly sent a letter to the eldest son Yuan Tan, asking him to denounce Yuan Shang's unfair position. As the eldest son, Guo Tu called on Yuan Shao's old troops to support him as the lord of Hebei.

Yuan Tan, who was confronting Zang Ba across the Yellow River in Qingzhou, also received the news.

After hearing the news, Yuan Tan's first thought was not to mourn the death of his father Yuan Shao, but instead to be extremely resentful of Yuan Shao and extremely angry at Yuan Shang's succession!

Therefore, he even ignored Zang Ba's troops of Cao's army who were confronting him, and took a group of soldiers and horses directly to Yecheng.

Along the way, as the eldest son, he called on the old members of the Yuan family, but he also got the response of many Li Chang sects.

After all, although Yuan Shao left his testament before the battle, only a few people such as Xin Ping, Chen Lin, Guo Tu, and Meng Dai were present at the time, and there was no written document in black and white.

Under Yuan Tan's commotion and Guo Tu's secret interference, many people felt that there was a conspiracy in Yuan Shang's succession and that someone had tampered with the will.

The lord of Hebei should be succeeded by the eldest son Yuan Tan. Abolition of the eldest son and the establishment of younger ones is a recipe for disaster!

As a result, the civil, military, and aristocratic families in Jizhou and the four Hebei states began to have disputes over whether to support Yuan Tan or Yuan Shang, which caused a period of chaos in the four Hebei states after the defeat.

That is to say, it was freezing cold at this time and it was not suitable to use troops. Cao Jun did not take advantage of the situation to attack.

Otherwise, when these two brothers fight, anyone with a discerning eye will shake their head and sigh.

Precisely because Cao's army did not attack, the two factions had no worries for the time being and fought to become the master of Hebei...

After the Cao family and his son counted the seizures, they prepared to return to Xudu to celebrate the New Year; the Yuan brothers were at odds with each other and attacked each other. At the same time.

The rest of the states and counties in the world also gradually received the news.

Hanzhong County is adjacent to Nanyang County and not too far from Xudu.

After Zhang Lu, the leader of Hanzhong, learned that Cao Ang had defeated Yuan Shao and cursed Yuan Shao's terrifying fighting power in front of the battle, he did not hesitate at all. He immediately sent an envoy to Xudu to present the Hanzhong household ultimatum atlas and prepare to surrender.

Liu Cong and the Cai clan in Jingzhou, and the Liu Qi clan secretly supported by Cao Ang, have been fighting for several months with no results. At this moment, they are horrified to find that Yuan Shao, who is the most threatening to the Cao family and his son in the north, has been defeated!

Jingzhou will be in danger!

But Liu Qi was helpless. Even if he was aware of it, with the support of the Jin Yiwei and Qiao Rui, Yan Xiang, Liu Yao and other Huainan, Lujiang and Yuzhang counties arranged by Cao Ang, he was unable to get off the tiger and had to continue to fight with the Cai family. Struggle...

As for Jiangdong, after several months of respite, Sun Quan finally secured his position as the lord of Jiangdong with the assistance of Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu and others.

He was trying to take advantage of the opportunity of Yuan Shao and Cao's father and son to compete in the north to recuperate and reorganize Jiangdong's foundation.

But he was shocked to learn this bad news, which made everyone in Jiangdong's court feel panic!

Some people even took advantage of the situation and suggested that now that the Cao family and his son have defeated Yuan Shao, it is only a matter of time before the four states in Hebei fall into the hands of the Cao family.

The general situation of the world has fallen into the hands of the Cao family and his son. We should take this opportunity to surrender several counties in the east of the Yangtze River without losing the title of feudal lord...

Most of the people who proposed this were from the Jiangdong family. No matter who is the lord, it will not affect it. Their wealth.

They didn't want to wait for Cao's army to conquer, causing them to bleed with Sun Quan, so they proposed to surrender.

Even Jiangdong's important minister Zhang Zhao had this intention.

Zhou Yu, Cheng Pu and other loyal officials of the Sun family tried their best to oppose the capitulation faction and did not want to disappoint the trust entrusted to Sun Jian and Sun Ce.

Zhou Yu even had to take extraordinary measures. Taking advantage of the cold winter that Cao's army would not go south for the time being, he secretly asked Sun Quan to directly attack the surrendering Jiangdong family... It was not that

Zhou Yu and Sun Quan didn't know that this would cause confrontation among the families and destabilize Jiangdong.

But compared to when Cao's army approached and the Jiangdong family surrendered and stabbed in the back, it was better to take this opportunity to cleanse the inside.

As everyone knows, this is also playing into Cao Ang's heart, so that Cao Ang will not dirty his hands in the future and deal with the Jiangdong family... It can be said that the end of this decisive battle between Yuan and Cao made the four states of Hebei, Jingzhou, and Jiangdong shocked and turbulent. more than.

Due to its remote location, the news has not yet reached Yizhou.

But in the land of Central Plains and Jingxiang, the noble families in the world are also shocked and excited!

The knowledgeable people in the world were shocked that Cao Ang defeated Yuan Shao so quickly, and at the same time they couldn't help but weigh it!

Friends from aristocratic families from all over the world gathered together secretly and began to discuss the rapid changes in the world and the next direction of the aristocratic families.

In the end, most of the aristocratic families were determined on one thing!

That means that the Cao family and his son have achieved great success, and no one among the princes in the world can compete with them anymore!

Even if the princes unite again, it will be difficult to do anything to Cao and his son!

Twenty miles west of Xiangyang City, Wollongong is located in Longzhong.

In the snow that was flying all over the sky, Cui Jun, Xu Shu and others sat around the stove, talking incessantly.

"I thought that the fourth and third princes of Yuan Benchu, who commanded the four states of Hebei, had hundreds of thousands of powerful soldiers, and countless money and grain, could hold a stalemate with the Cao family and his son.

Even if they cannot win, they will still face off for a long time, just like the battle of Changping.

But he didn't expect that Cao Zixiu would be so cunning and clever as to quickly break the situation!

In less than two months, all the soldiers and horses in the four states of Hebei were defeated. They even denounced him and made Yuan Shao angry to death in front of the battle!

Cao Zixiu's abilities are truly terrifying!"

Speaking of this, Cui Jun even made a conclusion:"Looking at it from this perspective, the troubled times will end, and the world will belong to the Cao family!".