"The future generations are to be feared, and it is difficult to accuse those who come. I am afraid that I will not be able to see you in time." [Book with Wu Zhi]
Cao Cao didn't seem to feel Li Zheng's anxious gaze. He stared at Li Dian, as if he was attracted by the smart man's appearance. He suddenly smiled and said: "Confucius once said, 'You will be feared by those who come after you. How could you know that those who come are not as good as they are now'?"
I see that at your young age, you don’t seem to be someone who doesn’t understand the rules and makes random remarks. If you have any opinions, please speak them out in front of the generals and seniors.”
Seeing that Cao Cao had no intention of blaming him, Li Zheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and glared at his disciple, and said: "Because of your status, it is not your turn to speak. Now, thanks to Cao Cao's magnanimity, why don't you thank me?"
"Thank you, Duke Cao." Li Dian walked out from behind Li Zheng, first saluted Cao Cao with clasped fists, and then circled around to bow to the generals. His attitude was neither humble nor arrogant, neither timid nor arrogant, which made many people initially look down upon him.
The man suddenly changed his mind. He heard Li Dian say loudly: "The day before yesterday, I was patrolling around with my brother. I noticed that there is a large embankment in the north of the deep forest. I don't know when it was dug. After years of famine, the government has been in disrepair for a long time, causing weeds to overflow the ditches. Villagers
I gradually forgot that this embankment is close to our army's camp and next to a deep forest. If troops are hidden in the embankment, more than a thousand soldiers and horses will be revealed outside the embankment to lure the enemy. Zang Hong, Chen Gong and others will then claim to have seen through the ambush in the forest.
You must be unprepared and fall into my trap."
"The future generations are to be feared, I am too weak!" Cao Cao didn't wait for the generals to react, he immediately raised his palms and said with a smile.
This obviously approved of Li Dian's strategy. Yu Jin and others thought about it for a while and realized the mystery. They couldn't help but look at this young man with admiration. At the same time, they also had a promising attitude towards the future future of Li Zheng and Li Dian brothers.
Sure enough, Chen Gong knew Cao Cao, and Cao Cao knew Chen Gong better. On the afternoon of the next day, Zang Hong and Chen Gong led more than 10,000 soldiers and horses to arrive. They saw deep trees and another group of soldiers and horses appeared in the north of the forest.
Chen Gong became suspicious at that time and said to Zang Hong: "Cao Cao is deceitful and full of tricks. When he attacked Qingzhou Moth Bandits, he often set up surprise ambushes and fought day and night. Now we must be more careful."
Zang Hong had also heard about Cao Cao's deeds. He did not dare to be negligent and asked softly: "I saw the flags flying in his camp, but I don't know the details of his soldiers and horses. I really need to be on guard against fraud. Can Gongtai have any good advice to teach me?"
"
Chen Gong looked around at the terrain and said, "It's already getting late. It's better to retreat a few miles today and monitor the movements in the forest. When we come back tomorrow, we can either go north or retreat at night. If Cao Cao's plan fails, it will be inevitable.
I will think about other strategies again and start early so that he will not have time to make a decision."
Zang Hong was good at governing the people, but not good at military strategy, but he was the best at accepting advice. At this time, he looked at his staff, Chen Rong, the Prime Minister of Dongjun, who had followed him since the Jujube Alliance, and wanted to seek his advice.
Chen Rong thought for a moment, then cupped his hands to Zang Hong and said, "I second the proposal."
Zang Hong's eyes flashed, and he no longer had any doubts. He nodded and said, "If it's good, just follow Gongtai's advice."
Because Tian Fen was afraid of Cao Cao's ability to use troops, he did not dare to contact him directly, and seeing that the situation was unfavorable, he had long ago found an excuse to dispatch grain and grass in Hebei and ran back to Juancheng, Dongjun, leaving Zang Hong behind to lead his troops. Chen Gongben
He looked down upon Tian Fen, and was even more pleased with Zang Hong's reputation and virtue, so he accepted the order. So Zang Hong led his troops back ten miles to set up camp. They set up camp overnight and made fires to cook food. Lin Lin, who thought there was an ambush in front,
But there was no movement at all. This made Chen Gong very confused. He couldn't figure out the context of Cao Cao for a while. Seeing that he couldn't come up with an idea at the moment, Zang Hong then comforted him and said: "Let's put this matter aside for the time being. We will see for ourselves tomorrow morning."
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Then Chen Gong was asked to retire and rest, but Chen Rong was left behind. He stood up and left the table, sitting down at the bottom closest to Zang Hong. The two looked at each other in silence for a while, and Chen Rong said: "The Lord of the House has been here lately. How worried you are, but are you still thinking about Li Qian’s last words that day?”
"Hey!" Zang Hong sighed and said, "You don't know, since I took orders from Yuan, I have become more and more confused, as if I stepped off the road into the fog, and it is difficult to determine my direction. He glanced at Chen Rong tiredly and said, "Am I fighting for the Yuan family or for the imperial court? Which side is this moral justice?"
Chen Rong was startled at first, then hesitated for a moment and said: "The fourth and third princes of the Yuan family in Runan have been loyal to the court for generations. Mr. Yuan is the leader of the Donghui Alliance and has a great reputation in the world. Following the Yuan family is not just following the court. ?Cao Cao bullied the governor of Yanzhou, invaded other states, appointed officials without permission, and did all kinds of illegal things. The ruler's actions are in line with people's hearts and in line with morality. The war is about to begin. I hope the ruler can calm down and ignore other things for the time being."
Zang Hong is a man who abides by morality and is extremely loyal. He was just a small official back then. Because he heard that Dong Zhuo was acting rebelliously in the court and deposed the emperor, he dared to go to the army to lead an army and personally went on stage to shed blood and preside over the oath of alliance. You must know that in that At that time, what he was doing was a "rebellious" undertaking. The princes were worried that if something went wrong, it would have serious consequences for themselves, they did not dare to step forward as the host. Only Zang Hong stood up resolutely. It was not until later that Yuan Shao took advantage of the situation and Since then, he gave up the title of alliance leader and was willing to take action, because at that time he believed that the Yuan family was the hope of the Han Dynasty, and following the Yuan family was for the future of the Han Dynasty.
But now all this is like a dream. Not only was he enlightened by Li Qian's refutation before his death, but also a long time ago, when he saw that Yuan Shao had no respect for the court, and even spread rumors that the emperor's blood was not righteous. When he heard the rumors, he discovered that the Yuan family had long had evil intentions, and that he had been acting as a savior. He claimed to be morally loyal, but he was doing things to resist the imperial court.
The psychological impact was more painful than the physical trauma. Since Li Qian's death, Zang Hong has been thinking about this issue in the past few days: "I didn't expect that during the three or four years that I was running around, I would be doing something I The most despicable thing... If I hadn't cared about my friendship with the emperor and couldn't bear to put him to death, I would have wished to be tied to Chang'an in this battle!"
"Your Majesty, you must not think like this!" Chen Rong hurriedly advised. In fact, he didn't know that Zang Hong was in a dilemma. He wanted to turn back, but couldn't. If he abandoned Yuan and cast Cao now, he would have to do it with his own hands. He killed Zang Hong during the initial campaign and recommended his own reasons to advocate Chao Chao. This is completely contrary to the loyalty Zang Hong upholds; and if he continues to do so, he will become farther and farther away from the imperial court, and there will be no escape in the history of Qing Dynasty in the future. The word "traitor" is also inconsistent with Zang Hong's morality.
The so-called loyalty, whether to choose the great loyalty between the emperor and his ministers, or the small righteousness between the master and his subordinates, is not a question worth discussing for future generations. But for this era, we respect the 'loyalty between the emperor and his ministers' For people, the direct relationship with conquest is closer than the indirect relationship with the emperor, so this choice is more uncomfortable than letting people directly choose life or death.
Zang Hong closed his eyes in pain, waved his hand, and said: "For now, let's see!"