Chapter 195
Fu Xun, Han Song, Zhang Yun and others learned that Liu Jue led the army south, and after being stunned for a while, they were all overjoyed, isn't this a good time to surrender Cao?
Immediately, Fu Xun was the messenger, and with the written surrender letter, he hurriedly rushed to the forbidden camp.
After Yu Ban received the surrender letter, he was also surprised, but he was afraid that there would be fraud, so he asked his subordinates to lead a thousand soldiers to receive Fancheng.
The subordinate soon came with the news that Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and others had indeed surrendered, and that Liu Jue had left Xiangyang.
After Yu Ban received this news, he was surprised and unexpected, he thought that he would go through a hard battle to win Xiangfan, but who knew that it was so simple.
"I thought Liu Jue was so good, but before I waited for the army to arrive, I scared him into a mouse, which seems to be mostly an exaggeration. "
Yu Ban was somewhat disdainful in his heart, but he still sent the news to Cao Cao as soon as possible.
At this time, Cao Cao personally led the main force of the army, and had just passed through Chaoyang City, and after receiving Yu Ban's letter, he was also stunned for a moment, and then showed a look of great joy.
Without much effort, he took Xiangfan, which was really beyond his expectations.
"Liu Jue Xiao'er, I captured my favorite general and killed my soldiers before, but now when my army arrives, he takes the initiative to retreat and give Xiangfan away, which is really ridiculous!"
Cao Cao couldn't help but look up to the sky and laugh, he had always been in a bad mood because of the fiasco of the tiger and leopard riding, but now he saw Liu Jue take the initiative to let go of Xiangfan and retreat to the Yangtze River, he was immediately happy.
Although the military generals of the left and right Wenchen felt surprised, it was indeed a good sign that they could take the two big cities of Xiangfan without spending a single soldier.
"Prime Minister, now that Liu Jue is afraid of our army and retreats to the south bank of the Yangtze River, we should speed up and move the entire Nanjun south in one fell swoop. Cheng Yu suggested.
"That's right, tomorrow Cao Zhen and Cao Xiu will lead the tiger and leopard cavalry, Xu Chu will lead the Su Guards, plus Xu Huang's 20,000 troops, and they will rush to Xiangyang with me, and the rest will follow. "
Cao Cao laughed again, and it could be seen that he was really happy at this moment.
Early the next morning, Cao Cao led the army to set off ahead of schedule, and after a whole day of rapid marching, he finally arrived at Xiangyang in the evening.
At this time, outside Xiangyang City, Cai Mao, Kuai Yue and other Cao factions had been waiting here for a long time, and when they saw Cao Cao coming, they hurriedly stepped forward to welcome him into the city.
As a result, Jingzhou, the most prosperous city, Xiangyang, which Liu Biao had operated for more than ten years, finally fell into the hands of Cao Cao.
Cao Cao and Cai Mao are old acquaintances, so after entering Xiangyang City, he came to Cai Mao's mansion, met Cai Mao's wife in the backyard, had a friendly conversation, and then came to the hall.
Cai Mao and Kuai Yue are all old fritters, the city is very deep, and it seems natural to face Cao Cao, but people such as Fu Xun and Han Song are a little restrained.
After all, Cao Cao is now the prime minister, the most powerful person in the world, and there are few people who are not nervous when getting along with this kind of person.
Cao Cao sat on the main seat, his eyes swept over everyone, and then he said to Cai Mao: "I have long heard that De Jue has a daughter, no matter how talented and good-looking, she is the best choice, why didn't you see her?"
Cai Mao was nervous for a while, but she looked quite calm, and said to Cao Cao: "Don't hide it from the prime minister, after Liu Biao died last year, my sister Mrs. Cai, just said again and again, let me marry my daughter to Liu Jue, plus Liu Jue is in charge of Jingzhou again, I really can't refuse, so I have to marry my daughter." "
Cai Mao's words directly threw the responsibility on Liu Jue and Mrs. Cai, and put the matter away.
Cai Mao had already thought about what he should do after the Cao was lowered, as long as he was low-key and low-key, let the Cai family continue, and the others would not dare to hope for extravagance.
With a smile on his face, Cao Cao looked straight at Cai Mao, wanting to see something, but Cai Mao was very calm, and his eyes did not dodge.
Cao Cao suddenly laughed and said: "What De Jue said is also true, that Liu Jue is in charge of Jingzhou, but he wants to force his uncle to marry his daughter to him, it is really hateful! Now that Liu Jue is a traitor, I should lead the army to conquer and give you justice." "
"Thank you, Prime Minister!" Cai Mao bowed deeply to Cao Cao, feeling relieved.
In fact, Cao Cao understands Cai Mao's thoughts best, this is the most common practice of the scholar clan in troubled times.
If these nobles want to survive in troubled times, the safest way is to make multi-party investments, so that the outstanding talents in the clan can assist the princes they are optimistic about, and no matter which side wins, it will be a good thing for them.
Cai Mao's approach is still within Cao Cao's tolerance, if he dares to collude with Liu Jue, Cao Cao doesn't mind slaughtering the Cai clan and deterring other Jingxiang clans.
Even if this article has been revealed, Cao Cao continued to ask: "Now how many soldiers and horses are there in Dejue's hands, and how many soldiers and horses does Liu Jue have in his hands?"
Cai Mao replied truthfully: "I have 20,000 sailors, 10,000 foot soldiers, more than 1,000 large and small warships, and half of the grain and grass are in Jiangling, but they have been moved away by Liu Jue, and there are a total of 100,000 water and land troops in his hands. "
Cao Cao frowned and asked, "Liu Jue's 100,000 army, how is the combat effectiveness?"
Cai Mao replied: "Half of the soldiers and horses in Liu Jue's hands were developed by him in Jiangxia, including soldiers from the north and Jiangdong. The other half is the original soldiers and horses in Jingzhou, after Liu Jue mastered these soldiers and horses, he let his generals practice day and night, but I don't know what the results were?"
Cao Cao said unhappily: "You are the general of Zhennan, how can you not know this?"
Cai Mao said with a wry smile: "Liu Jue already knew that I had the intention of surrendering to the prime minister, so after taking charge of Jingzhou, he didn't regard me as a confidant, how could he tell me such important things about military aircraft." "
Cao Cao suddenly stretched his brows, and comforted: "De Jue doesn't need to blame himself, Liu Jue can't tolerate meritocracy, and sooner or later he will be defeated in my hands." "
Cao Cao originally wanted to ask about the thunderbolt and the war knife, but when he saw that Cai Mao didn't know about it, he suddenly felt a little depressed.
However, with the mentality of giving it a try, Cao Cao still said: "Before, Liu Jue set up an ambush and severely damaged my tiger and leopard rider, relying on a sharp war knife, which is as sharp as a hundred refining knives, have you ever heard of Deju?"
Cai Mao nodded and said, "I've also heard of some, but that kind of battle knife casting is supervised by Liu Jue's cronies, where is the location, and how many there are, I really don't know." "
Cao Cao was suddenly a little unhappy, since Cai Mao didn't even know much about that kind of combat knife, let alone the thunderbolt.
Cai Mao said cautiously: "Actually, the prime minister doesn't have to worry, that kind of knife must be a hundred refining knives, and it takes time and effort to cast, I believe Liu Jue will not have much." "
"Hopefully, if it's only with elite troops, I don't care much. Cao Cao shook his head slightly.