Chapter 850 Getting Married
In the third year of Taiwu, on October 25th, Xuzhou, Xiapi State, Xiapi.
It's cold, rainy, and windy.
This new political center in Xuzhou welcomed a new guest today.
On the road going south from Qingzhou, a few small trucks first appeared, and then, a seemingly endless convoy also appeared in the field of vision, one after another.
At this time, the cart in front of the head stopped for a moment, the curtains were rolled up, and a beauty with palace makeup stepped out from the green cover.
She stood on the cart, looked back in the direction of Linzi, sighed, and then said warmly to the guide:
"Okay, let's go."
The conductor couldn't help but sigh when he looked at the dignified and noble lady, but thinking about his lord's great cause, he still shook the whip in his hand and motioned for the convoy to continue moving forward.
In this way, this huge convoy continued to move towards Xiapi.
The dignified beauty just now is Cao Cao's eldest daughter. She is not very old, but she has developed a dignified and generous demeanor.
Like most women in this world, although she has a name, no one will call her by her name. Whether at home or in her father's shogunate, she is called "little girl".
Today is the day when the "little girl" gets married.
The huge motorcade behind her was filled with her dowry:
"Five hundred boys and girls each, three thousand colorful embroidered clothes, two hundred war horses, and countless gold, silver and pearls."
Although the dowry of this size is not comparable to the size of a princess's wedding in the Pre-Han Dynasty, it is still very high for a prince like Cao Cao.
Not to mention, there were dozens of armored knights and hundreds of embroidered tigers who were getting married with the Cao family's little girl.
These are the core weapons of Cao's army, and now they are all part of the dowry, and they are going south to Xuzhou with the little girl.
These nearly a hundred iron-armored warriors wore armor with red ropes and held iron-wrapped horses in their hands, but their expressions were all different.
Some of them are angry and think that giving away their daughter for marriage is a great humiliation to their warriors; some are disdainful because they have beaten Xuzhou before, so they regard Xuzhou people as weak chickens and pigs;
Some are indifferent and feel that it has nothing to do with them and they just need to do what they should do.
There was only one knight in the crowd, but there was some curiosity on his face. He was Cao Ang, the eldest son of Cao Cao.
As a member of the wedding convoy, Cao Ang knew better than anyone else his father's urgency to form an alliance with Xuzhou. He also heard more than once that his father had privately praised the master of Xuzhou, Chen Deng, and thought that Xuzhou would be unprofitable without him.
Cao Ang admired his father, so he was also full of curiosity about the master of Xuzhou who would become his brother-in-law:
"Chen Deng, what kind of person are you!"
……
Since Cao Cao invaded Xuzhou, all the land in the Huaibei area of Xuzhou was occupied, so the state government was moved from Tan County in the north to Xiapi in the center of Huaisi.
In fact, in terms of geographical situation, Guangling, located on the edge of the Yangtze River, is more suitable than Xiapi. But Chen Deng, the general of Zhendong, did not take his hometown of Guangling, but settled in Xiapi.
He chose Pishe Guangling for one reason, that is, Xiapi is further north than Guangling, and Chen Deng will organize Xuzhou soldiers and civilians to counterattack Cao Cao from a position close to the front line.
In the end, Chen Deng's choice did prove to be effective, because being close to the front line, Chen Deng could not only deploy manpower and materials from the Linjiang area to the Huai River line faster.
But more importantly, he set a political example:
"I, Chen Deng, will defend the Huai River and will not take a step back!"
Then, the situation really changed dramatically.
As the Taishan Army moved south from Taiyuan to Kyoto, the entire hot spot began to surround the Gyeonggi area.
Not only Yuan Shao in the Central Plains region began to put all his capital on it, but even Cao Cao in Qingzhou could only cooperate with Yuan Shao at this time to attack Guan Yu in the Taishan region.
At this time, Xuzhou was naturally relieved. Under Chen Deng's organization, the Xuzhou Army began to restore the counties and counties in Huaibei one after another, and its strength also grew stronger in the process of regaining the north.
Originally, according to Chen Deng's plan, he had to fight to Qingzhou. If he did not retaliate against Qingzhou, the hearts of the people of Xuzhou would not be calmed down.
But the situation once again made Chen Deng a big joke, that is, no one expected that the Taishan Army would progress so fast.
A few days after they got the news from the East that the Taishan Army had taken Hanoi, they heard that the Taishan Army had crossed the river. When they received the news again, Kyoto had been destroyed.
At this time, Chen Deng decisively ordered the frontline legions to stop the Northern Expedition. After such a change in the situation, he had a premonition that a new alliance was bound to begin.
Sure enough, Yuan Shao from the Central Plains later sent an envoy to Xuzhou to make peace with Qingzhou, hoping that the two sides would stop fighting and use their forces together on the Taishan Army.
In fact, Chen Deng himself understood the truth without having to talk nonsense from Yuan Shao's envoys.
The Taishan Army that occupied the Gyeonggi area was completely different from before.
No matter how fierce the Taishan Army was in the Hebei area before, the heroes in the Central Plains, especially the Jianghuai area, had little experience and felt that the Taishan Army was still a relatively distant enemy.
But now that the Taishan Army has officially occupied the Heluo area, the result is completely different.
Heluo can become a city precisely because it is located in the world, and the east is the most convenient place to use troops.
When the Zhou royal family was in Luo Jianyi, its original intention was to suppress the existence in the East.
Now that the Taishan Army occupies this strategic area, and with the cooperation of Guan Yu in the Taishan area, the entire Central Plains, Huaisi, and Jiangbiao will face pressure from the Taishan Army.
But the truth is such a truth, but it is not reasonable. He, Chen Deng, should do this.
Because he, Chen Deng, and the soldiers and civilians of Xuzhou also have their own principles, that is, revenge when there is a grudge, and revenge when there is a grudge.
It makes no sense. When you, Cao Cao, have an advantage, you take advantage of it. If you no longer have an advantage, you have to ask Chen Deng to take care of the overall situation.
Moreover, what Cao Cao did before was really not done by humans. He looted and killed in his Xuzhou territory. Which of the Xuzhou soldiers in the army was not forced to surrender by your Qingzhou soldiers?
These people joined the army to take revenge on the Qingzhou Army. Without this premise, the Xuzhou Army would definitely be severely defeated.
Therefore, even though Yuan Shao sent envoys several times to try to reconcile, Chen Deng still did not give up his plan to retaliate against Qingzhou. The reason why he stopped his troops now was just to choose a more suitable opportunity.
In the days that followed, everyone in the world was paying attention to Heluo, because Yuan Shao finally lived up to expectations and marched north to Heluo with an army of 100,000 to fight against the Taishan army.
Everyone also knew the result after that. Yuan Shao was defeated. Not only did he lose his life and everything, but Chen Deng finally gave up the idea of revenge.
Without the checks and balances of the powerful forces in the Central Plains, the Taishan Army would soon use troops against Cao Cao in Qingzhou.
At this time, he went to counterattack Cao Cao. Under the attack from the north and south by him and the Taishan Army, Cao Cao was bound to die.
But that's why Chen Deng can't do this anymore.
To be honest, Chen Deng respected Cao Cao's abilities very much and considered him a rare hero in the world. If he had not become the master of Xuzhou by chance, in terms of his own interests, he would have strongly supported Cao Cao's annexation of Xuzhou.
After all, the more troubled the times, the only way to survive is to rely on the hero. But now that his position has changed, it is naturally impossible for Chen Deng to surrender Xuzhou to Cao Cao. Not to mention that if he does so, he will undoubtedly die later. It is also a betrayal to those brothers who trust him.
So the admiration in the past has evolved into the heroic sympathy now.
Under the tremendous pressure from the Taishan Army, Chen Deng knew that he could no longer make the Northern Expedition.
At that time, a group of unexpected guests suddenly appeared in Xuzhou. Their arrival directly turned Chen Deng and Cao Cao from confrontation to alliance.
They were the Queen Mother He and Zhou Yu who had escaped from Kyoto before.
Originally, Zhou Yu and the others planned to go directly to Jiangdong, but after Queen Mother He and the others arrived in Xuzhou, they immediately regretted it and decided to stay in Xuzhou.
From a personal perspective, Empress Dowager He felt at ease with the Chen family, because the Lipu Chen family was a member of the family who had been favored by the Han Dynasty for hundreds of years.
And who are you, Sun Jian? My father is a melon seller, and I am just lucky enough to reach this point by virtue of my military exploits. You can be a dog in the Han Dynasty, but how can you become the cornerstone of Yi Zhi's courtyard pillar?
So Queen Mother He went back on her word and decided to stay in Xuzhou.
When she and the escaped officials appeared in front of Chen Deng, Chen Deng was overjoyed and saw an opportunity.
After that, Chen Deng welcomed the Queen Mother He to the shogunate, and he took a group of officials to live elsewhere. After that, Chen Deng began to take over the banner of the Han Dynasty, and began to actively contact various families in Jiangbiao and Jianghuai area to join the Xuzhou.
At the same time, at the request of Queen Mother He, Chen Deng officially took up the banner of revenge for Liu Bian and formed an alliance with Cao Cao in Qingzhou to fight against the Taishan Army.
It was against this background that Cao Cao decided to promise Chen Deng his beloved daughter.
Even though Chen Deng already had a wife at this time.
……
The suburbs of Xiapi City are not prosperous, and it can be seen that the war has done great harm to Xuzhou.
This is especially true in the Huaibei area where the convoy passed by to see off the bride before. It was full of desolation and bones.
When the little girl learned that these devastated scenes were ordered by her father, she fell silent.
The young and intelligent girl seemed to have foreseen how hostile the people of Xuzhou would be towards her existence.
The bells hanging on the horses of the convoy jingled, and the convoy was getting closer and closer to Xiapi City.
But surprisingly, there were not many greeters outside Xiapi City, and even Chen Deng did not appear at the scene.
The sparse reception staff made the tribesmen and warriors who sent Cao's relatives very dissatisfied, thinking that Qingzhou was being neglected and insulted.
But the official who arranged the reception calmly replied that this was the Queen Mother's wish. Now that the country is in crisis, everything should be kept simple.
After hearing this, Cao Ang, who was in the crowd at the time, glanced at the huge farewell motorcade behind him, then glanced at his sister in the curtain car, thought about it, and shouted:
"My Cao family values Chen Xuzhou's heroism and doesn't care about these false etiquette. Moreover, the Queen Mother is right. Now that the country is facing a national crisis, everything should be kept simple."
After speaking, Cao Ang waved his hand on his horse and shouted to the convoy:
"Enter the city!"
In this way, the convoy began to slowly drive into Xiapi City.
When the little girl's curtain car passed by Cao Ang, Cao Ang finally couldn't help but lowered his head and said:
"Sister, I feel wronged."
Inside the curtained car, not a word was spoken.
……
In fact, Cao Ang knew that the so-called Queen Mother's words were all excuses.
In the final analysis, Xuzhou wants to give the Cao family a blow. After all, the two sides are too close to each other. Although they can no longer fight openly, they still want to do this in private. It is disgusting and disgusting to you.
Cao Ang thought that this was not Chen Deng's original intention.
But Chen Deng must have known about it and intentionally acquiesced to it.
In fact, from this behavior, Cao Ang thought that Chen Deng really planned to join forces with the Cao family to fight against the Taishan Army.
Because only by being stingy like this can Chen Deng easily calm people's hearts and unite with the Cao family in this way.
If they are groveling or showing magnanimity, then this Qingxu alliance will only make everyone in Xuzhou feel humiliated.
But if this time Qingzhou is at the bottom and Xuzhou is at the top, then together, the hearts of Xuzhou will only become more enthusiastic.
What could be more satisfying than scolding your former enemy as if he were your slave?
Although Cao Ang was the eldest son of a concubine, he was established as the heir long ago. Perhaps he was impressed by the bloody struggle for the heir to the Han Dynasty, or perhaps Cao Cao didn't value this in the first place. Anyway, Cao Cao directly made Cao Ang his heir.
Therefore, when Cao Ang was very young, he received a good education in his hometown in Peijun. When he grew up, he often worked in his father's shogunate. He was exposed to the most top-notch think tanks and struggles, so he was very qualified in his Machiavellian thinking.
But although Cao Ang understood Chen Deng's approach, he couldn't agree with it.
Of course, what kind of hatred is there? Naturally, the sword and the gun are on the high ground. What is the ability to plot against a girl?
Why should I feel sorry for his sister? To suffer such grievances?
I'm afraid that Chen Deng is so famous that it's hard to live up to it.
In fact, the anger in Cao Ang's heart, in addition to fighting for his sister, also has such complex emotions:
"Is it possible that our Cao family has to give away their daughter to survive?"
You know, not long ago, the Cao family was still high-spirited and the real overlord of the East.
Not to mention Xuzhou, which was defeated by us twice and lost half of its territory, Guan Yu, who was so powerful in the East, also suffered a big loss at the hands of our Cao family?
But no one could have imagined that just how long would it take for the Cao family to rely on Xuzhou?
What status did Xuzhou have before? When the envoy from Qingzhou arrived in Xuzhou to reply, Tao Qian even had to stand up from his couch, walk three steps forward, and then bow down to receive him.
This is called "falling on the couch to receive the book"!
But now he, the eldest son of the Cao family, came to see off his bride in person, and several petty officials were sent to the opposite side, and he was still so disrespectful! What a difference there is between before and after!
In fact, the petty officials in Xuzhou are not disrespectful, they are just neither humble nor overbearing.
But it's a pity that for these people and their status, if you are neither humble nor arrogant, it is disrespectful to Cao Ang!
Very good, I, Cao Ang, have remembered this today.
Once you pass this test, you will have a good life in Xuzhou again.