The words Cao Hong carved on the bamboo slips were written in small seal script. Ma Xiaoquan had been in the late Han Dynasty for several years, so he could basically understand the small seal script.
After a rough review, Ma Xiaoquan nodded, patted Cao Hong on the shoulder and said, "Zilian, thank you!"
Cao Hong blushed, but he was very proud in his heart. You must know that in order to collect this information for Lord Shangxian, Cao Hong, who has always been stingy, used his own wealth.
After Cao Hong left, Ma Xiaoquan unfolded the bamboo slips again and read them carefully. This time, Ma Xiaoquan memorized everything on the bamboo slips.
There are only three useful pieces of information on the bamboo slips: first, regarding the solar recorder that I have been looking for, it is said that Sun Jian once obtained it, but after Sun Jian was killed by Huang Zu, the news was discontinued; second,
A young man named Lu is also looking for the solar recorder. Ma Xiaoquan has known this for a long time. Thirdly, the latest whereabouts of the solar recorder are said to be in Lu Bu's hands.
"Well..." Ma Xiaoquan concentrated his energy, and a light red flame appeared in the palm of his hand. The bamboo slips in his hand slowly turned into charcoal.
"In Lu Bu's hands?"
Ma Xiaoquan activated the data device in his body.
After Dong Zhuo's death, Lü Bu and Wang Yun, the old men, controlled the government for three months. However, because of Wang Yun's stubbornness and Lü Bu's arrogance, Dong Zhuo's old subordinates Li Jue and Guo Si counterattacked Chang'an, drove Lü Bu away, and killed Wang Yun.
...Although Ma Xiaoquan feels it is a pity, history is like this and cannot be changed at will. After all, he is a physical time traveler. If history is changed, then his future self will most likely cease to exist.
"It seems that when I meet Lu Bu again, I have to ask him..."
After making up his mind, Ma Xiaoquan patted the dust on his hands, shook his head and walked away.
...
In early April of the fourth year of Emperor Xian of the Han Dynasty, the weather gradually warmed up, the earth recovered, and farmers who got up early began to cultivate and sow seeds.
After discussing with Lord Shangxian, Cao Cao decided to take over his father, Cao Song, to take care of him until his old age.
Ma Xiaoquan knew that Cao Song would be killed on the way here, but he couldn't point it out. When discussing with Cao Cao before, Ma Xiaoquan kept laughing and didn't express a single opinion.
Cao Cao thought that Master Shangxian agreed with him, so he happily wrote a letter and ordered it to be secretly sent to his father.
The scout in charge of delivering the message was a man called Ma Daha. On this day, this man came to an inn, ordered a jar of good wine, served a few plates of side dishes, and ate with relish. When he was about to eat, he suddenly heard someone talking.
It's a story, and it's about the crusade against Dong Zhuo that happened two years ago.
This scout was originally Dong Zhuo's old subordinate, and later surrendered to Cao Cao. Although he surrendered to Cao Cao, he still occasionally misses his old life in Dong Zhuo's military camp.
Cao Cao was strict in running the army and strictly ordered his subordinates not to take needles or tiles from the people, but Dong Zhuo was different. As long as he captured the place, Dong Zhuo relaxed the ban and allowed his subordinates to burn, kill and loot.
Everyone is objective. In the storyteller's mouth, Dong Zhuo was described as a bully who did all kinds of evil, while Sun Jian, who was rushing in front, was described as a hero in the world.
The more the scout heard, the more uncomfortable he became. Finally, under the influence of alcohol, he couldn't help but retort a few words.
The storyteller was not surprised or annoyed. He looked at the scout for a while and then said: "Then tell me, what is good about Dong Zhuo?"
This scout was also a rough man. If he had to say what good things Dong Zhuo had, he really couldn't describe it for a moment. Thinking about it carefully, apart from burning, killing and looting every time, there really wasn't anything good about Dong Zhuo.
The scout was speechless for a moment.
The storyteller chuckled, touched the beard on his chin, and continued: "So, Dong Zhuo must be dead, but I heard that Dong Zhuo seemed to have taken some elixir before he died..."
Everyone was excited after hearing this, and someone asked the storyteller, how could Dong Zhuo still die after taking the elixir?
The storyteller laughed loudly and said: "Only those who are destined to take those elixirs can take those elixirs. Who is Dong Zhuo? He is an old villain who does all kinds of evil. If he takes the elixir, he must be deprived of his luck by the elixir..."
The storyteller became more and more bizarre as he spoke, but also became more and more exciting. Before he knew it, the scout had been listening to it all morning.
At noon, the scouts realized something was wrong and quickly got up to leave.
As he stood up, a pair of bamboo slips slipped out of his baggage. When the bamboo slips landed on the ground, he broke free of the cloth straps binding them.
The storyteller had a bad eye, so he quickly picked up the bamboo slip, patted it, and prepared to return it to the scout, but when he turned over the bamboo slip and took a look, his expression immediately changed.
The bamboo slips read: My father is well, my son thinks he is a herdsman in Yanzhou, and he misses his family. My father has been taking refuge in Langya for a long time, and my son wants to take his father back. However, the governance of Yanzhou is difficult and he cannot escape. The governor of Taishan County is specially sent to respond.
Shao responded, and hoped that the father would come to reunite with his son as soon as possible... I was unable to meet him from afar, so I asked the father to atone for his sins.
In fact, this bamboo slip only wrote something about the son missing his father's family and hoping that they would come and get together with him. However, the signature on the bamboo slip was not that of an ordinary person.
The storyteller looked at the signature carefully and secretly made up his mind.
"Brother, your things have been lost!" The storyteller closed the bamboo slips and handed them to the scout.
The scout didn't even look at it, but stuffed the bamboo slips directly into the baggage, then bowed his hands to the storyteller and ran out quickly.
Seeing that the scouts were gone, the storyteller hurriedly went up to the second floor of the inn.
In a room on the second floor, an old man was reading. Beside the old man, two men, one tall and one short, stood. Judging from their posture, these two men were the old man's guards.
The old man's appearance is very ordinary, but the obvious aquiline nose and the gorgeous clothes he wears are enough to show that the old man's identity is extraordinary.
The storyteller knocked on the door of the old man's room, knelt on the ground, whispered a few words, and then withdrew.
After the storyteller exited, the old man suddenly stood up and stretched.
"Reveal this news to Tao Qian..."
The two men beside the old man nodded and retreated respectfully.
After a long time, the old man spoke and murmured: "I hope this news can bring back my treasure, huh... otherwise, my eldest brother will scold me to death when I go back... huh..."
...I, Hua Sanqing, am not someone who loses every time I bet..."
The scout successfully delivered the letter to Cao Song. At the same time, Xuzhou Mu Tao Qian also received a piece of heavy news.
Tao Qian urgently summoned his men to discuss countermeasures.
In the hall, Tao Qian asked: "Everyone, I heard that Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, will be passing through my land in the near future. What do you think?"
One of his subordinates cupped his hands and said, "Tao Gong Tao Qian doesn't like others to call him lord or lord. He likes others to call him Tao Gong. As you can see below, we can just open one eye and close one eye."
As soon as this subordinate finished speaking, another subordinate became unwilling: "No, Mr. Tao, I think that Cao Cao's ambition is to take the opportunity to attack Xuzhou in the name of welcoming his father..."
"How is it possible to attack Xuzhou? Cao Cao has just recovered Yanzhou and everything is in ruins. How could he have such thoughts?"
"This is wrong. How can you conclude that Cao Cao does not covet our wealthy Xuzhou?"
...
Both sides had different opinions, and their reasons were very good. Tao Qian found it difficult to make a conclusion for a while, but Tao Qian still preferred the latter's statement. After all, Xuzhou under his current governance is a prosperous place.
, is also a strategically important place, and Tao Qian sincerely does not want to lose Xuzhou in his lifetime.
"Okay, don't say any more!" Tao Qian suddenly shouted to stop his subordinates, "I have made up my mind, I would rather believe that it is true than that it is not true!"
Although Tao Qian didn't make it clear, his meaning was already obvious. His subordinates who held the first point of view saw that the persuasion was ineffective and stopped saying more.
That night, Tao Qian personally arranged the troops and horses, and also brought a jade pendant he had won from Hua Sanqing before, and set off happily.
Cao Song was very happy after receiving the letter from his son Cao Cao. Before that, Cao Song had started to pack his belongings. It happened that the letter from his son also arrived at this moment. Cao Song immediately decided to go to Yanzhou to meet his son.
Cao Cao meets up.
Cao Song once served as an official, and he was still a high-ranking lieutenant. Although it was donated money, it is enough to prove that Cao Song's family is well-off.
After seeing that all the household items were packed, Cao Song gave the order to leave.
Looking at the long train of luggage, Cao Song felt very proud. These household items were obtained during his years as an official. If calculated according to current standards, it would not be a problem to feed 20,000 people for 2 years.
At the junction of Langye County and Taishan County, Tao Qian had already personally ambushed there. According to reports from Tanma, Cao Song's fleet was very long, with a total of a hundred vehicles, and it was said that Cao Song had no one to protect him. Tao Qian
With his mouth wide open, he thought to himself: This old thief Cao has made a lot of money, okay, okay, it just makes me, Tao, a little bit easier...
When Cao Song led his convoy near the junction of Langye County and Taishan County, Tao Qian immediately ordered an attack.
For the unarmed Cao Song, the only option was to be slaughtered when meeting the well-equipped Tao Qian.
The afterglow of the setting sun shone on the earth, revealing a deep red patch. Tao Qian took off the jade pendant from his waist with satisfaction and weighed it in his hand. Then, he found the jade pendant from the dead Cao Song.
Here comes a set of dominoes.
"Well...this domino is much more valuable than this jade pendant. Well, I'd better give the jade pendant back to Hua Sanqing..."
After making up his mind, Tao Qian ordered that all of Cao Song's family and finances be taken away. As for those who were still alive, Tao Qian just said lightly: Kill them all.
...
Not long after Tao Qian left, Taishan County Sheriff Ying Shao led a team of soldiers and horses to arrive late. When he came closer and took a closer look, he was dumbfounded.
Seeing a mess in front of him, and almost everyone had been killed, Ying Shao dismounted in person, sweating profusely, and looked through each one, hoping to find someone alive, but unfortunately, except for a few
Except for the old horse who was stabbed and not taken away, everyone died. Moreover, what made Ying Shao most troubled and frightened was that Cao Cao's father, Cao Song, also died.
Ying Shao was very nervous. This was his dereliction of duty and his responsibility.
Ying Shao had thought about betraying Cao Cao, but he knew in his heart that if he betrayed Cao Cao now, the crime of Cao Song's murder would fall on him.
"Hi" Finally, Ying Shao decided to take the old man's body back to collect his guilt, and maybe, he could even get his life back.
...
Tao Qian robbed Cao Song's belongings and killed all of Cao Song's family members. Instead of feeling guilty, Tao Qian was very happy. You know, when he opened Cao Song's treasure chest, it contained...
They are all gold, silver and jewelry. Naturally, Tao Qian likes these things very much.
"Hey, go back and give my two new concubines a bead necklace each..." Tao Qian couldn't help but slurp and drool as he thought about it.
...
Cao Cao didn't know about the news of his father Cao Song's murder yet. At this moment, Cao Cao and Ma Xiaoquan were sitting around the table, eating roasted lamb.
Although he didn't see his father, Cao Cao had already started chattering.
Seeing Cao Cao talking non-stop, Ma Xiaoquan couldn't get a word in, and of course, he didn't want to. Ma Xiaoquan was thinking about how to ask Lu Bu about the whereabouts of the solar recorder.
"Lord Immortal, Lord Immortal?"
Ma Xiaoquan yelled, and Cao Cao called him twice in a row before Ma Xiaoquan came back to his senses.
Cao Cao was used to Master Shangxian being distracted. He felt that whenever Master Shangxian was distracted, he must be planning something.
Therefore, Cao Cao shamelessly asked: "Master Shangxian, what are you planning?"
Ma Xiaoquan was stunned and thought to himself: What I think has nothing to do with you, but your dad... Well, forget it, just make it up.
After thinking about it, Ma Xiaoquan pretended to be sad and said to Cao Cao: "Xiao Cao, your father..."
When Cao Cao heard this, he immediately became nervous. He dropped the knife in his hand and grabbed Ma Xiaoquan's shoulder: "Master Shangxian, my father... what happened to him?"
Ma Xiaoquan said "very sadly": "I just did some calculations and suddenly found that your father Cao Song's anger is gone..."
Ma Xiaoquan said it very implicitly, but his meaning was very clear. Cao Cao was very smart and understood it as soon as he heard it.
However, Cao Cao was also suspicious. After all, in his heart, he still regarded Ma Xiaoquan as a demon.
"Master Shangxian," Cao Cao let go of his hand and said seriously, "Sir Shangxian, what if this is to deceive me?"
Ma Xiaoquan shook his head helplessly: "You will know soon whether it is true or not, but I am telling you, Xiao Cao, impulsiveness is the devil!"
After Ma Xiaoquan finished speaking, he dropped the mutton knife in his hand and left the house.
Shortly after Ma Xiaoquan left the house, his men came to report that Ying Shao, the governor of Taishan County, was alone and asked to see him.
With a "bang" sound, Cao Cao shook the mutton knife he just held in his hand and dropped it to the ground.
...
That night, Cao Cao urgently summoned the civil and military officials.
All the generals and counselors felt strange. Where was the lord singing in the middle of the night? Only after meeting Cao Cao did everyone understand that the lord's father was dead.
The Cao family and Xiahou brothers immediately became violent and said they wanted to avenge their lord's father, while Xun Yu and Cheng Yu remained silent.
According to Ying Shao, Cao Song was killed by Tao Qian.
Cao Cao originally suspected Ying Shao, but seeing that Ying Shao dared to bring his father's body back to plead guilty, this indirectly proved Ying Shao's innocence. As for the fact that his father was killed by Tao Qian, Cao Cao also took it for a moment.