Chapter 421 You take the blame, I only make non-stick pans! Are you so confident? Then we will destroy Xiongnu cavalry!
Cao Ren's face changed drastically.

Cao Zhi was also surprised.

Make peace!

These two words popped up in the minds of the uncle and nephew at the same time.

That’s right, Yu Fuluo just wanted to force the State of Qin to marry him.

When Emperor Gaozu first founded the Han Dynasty, the country was in ruins and was unable to wage a full-scale war against the rising Xiongnu.

Therefore, the Han Dynasty had no choice but to adopt a defensive posture towards the Huns, and at the same time had to send a princess to marry the Huns.

It was not until the time of Emperor Wu of Han, after more than seventy years of recuperation and the country's strength reaching its peak, that Han had the confidence to break off the marriage alliance and turn from defense to offense against the Huns.

In a sense, marriage through alliance has become a synonym for shame and weakness.

Especially the marriage with the Huns!

Now, Yu Furuo is asking for too much. Five counties and the title of King of Jin are not enough to satisfy his appetite. He even wants to force Cao Cao to give away his daughter as a marriage partner?

And he wants Cao Cao to give him three daughters at once?
It's too much to bully others, it's too much to bully others!

Even Cao Zhi was enraged at this moment, clenched his fists, and wanted to get angry on the spot.

"Cough cough~~"

However, Yang Xiu coughed a few times in time to hint Cao Zhi not to be impulsive.

Cao Zhi had to suppress his anger, looked up at Yang Xiu, and immediately understood what he meant.

We have already agreed to cede land to the Huns. We have already been cursed, so why should we be afraid of adding more insult to injury?
Anyway, it was Cao Ren who acted on his own initiative, and it is your uncle who has to take the blame. Why are you worrying about it?

Everything must be based on the survival of the Qin State...

Understanding Yang Xiu's hint, Cao Zhi swallowed his saliva and had to swallow back the anger that was about to burst out.

His gaze quietly turned to Cao Ren.

At this time, Cao Ren's face was naturally ashen, his brows were furrowed, and he remained silent.

Yu Furuo's excessive demands had obviously angered him.

"General Cao, could it be that the Emperor of the Great Qin Dynasty despises me, the Chanyu of the Xiongnu, and is unwilling to marry his daughter to me?"

"Since you look down on me, Yu Fuluo, why do you ask me to help your Qin State fight against Liu Bei?"

When Yu Furuo saw Cao Ren hesitate, his face also darkened.

How could Cao Ren not hear the dissatisfaction in Fu Luo's words? His frown immediately relaxed a little.

"The overall situation is more important, the overall situation is more important..."

Yang Xiu pretended to take a sip of wine, but he started talking to himself.

Although he seemed to be muttering to himself, he was actually hinting to Cao Ren to put the overall situation first and make concessions to Yu Furuo.

But he was very smart. He only hinted indirectly but never gave blatant advice.

As I said, Cao Ren has to bear the blame and I can only keep away from it.

Cao Ren's heart was shocked, and the anger and hesitation in his heart were all crushed by Yang Xiu's words "overall situation", like a mountain pressing down on his head.

"Ugh--"

After a helpless sigh, Cao Ren could only smile and say:

"The Great Chanyu is a hero of the time. My emperor has respected him for a long time. How could he not want to marry the Great Chanyu?"

"Don't worry, I've agreed to this on behalf of the Emperor!"

Yu Furuo was finally satisfied and couldn't help laughing.

He immediately picked up the wine glass, cut his palm, and swore an oath with blood with Cao Ren.

After a moment's hesitation, Cao Ren finally steeled himself, gritted his teeth, and cut his palm.

The two of them swore an oath of blood at Baibo Pass.

The two companies formally formed an alliance.

Yu Furuo was in a very good mood, so he naturally drank to his heart's content. He returned to the camp only after he had drunk his fill.

Cao Ren was extremely enthusiastic and personally escorted Yu Fuluo down the city wall and gave him a war horse.

Only when Yu Fuluo walked away did the smile on Cao Ren's face gradually disappear, and was replaced by a gloomy and cold expression again.

"Chief Hu, bah!"

Cao Ren cursed softly and spat.

"General Huqi, we have promised the Xiongnu people land and titles of kingship without telling them, which is already a violation of the emperor's will."

"How can you still act on your own initiative now, General, and agree to marry that Yuvro?"

"If Your Majesty knows about this, which is detrimental to the dignity of our country and a great shame, how will we deal with it?"

As soon as Yu Furuo left, Xun You reminded him anxiously.

Cao Ren sighed helplessly and asked:
"Xun Gongda, you only remembered to remind me now, why didn't you stop me just now?"

Xun You was speechless.

Cao Ren looked bitter, and then asked again:

"If I don't agree to Yu Fuluo's terms, and the Hu chieftain turns hostile and leaves, refusing to help me deal with the big-eared thief, how can I defend Baibo Pass and Bingzhou for the emperor?"

After asking two questions in a row, Xun You was left speechless and could only sigh helplessly.

The atmosphere fell silent.

"In fact, what the General of the Cavalry did was also to defend Bingzhou. He had no choice but to do so."

"But as the saying goes, all is fair in war. The conditions of ceding land and becoming a king, as well as the marriage, were all agreed to by the General of the Cavalry. The Emperor doesn't have to recognize them."

Yang Xiu at the side coughed a few times and made a few subtle hints.

Cao Ren's eyes rolled and suddenly they lit up.

Yes, it was he who swore the blood oath, and it was he who acted on his own initiative. What does it have to do with Cao Cao?

By then, with the help of the Huns, Bingzhou was defended and Liu Bei was repelled. The situation was already decided and Cao Cao could simply deny it.

At most, you can charge him with a crime of falsely conveying the imperial edict, which will offset his merits and demerits in defending Bingzhou. What can you, Yu Fuluo, do to him?

Do you still dare to raise an army to call the Qin Dynasty to task and start a rebellion?
At that time, Bingzhou had already turned from danger to safety, and Cao Cao could have turned his back on them and freed up his hands to deal with Yufuluo and the Xiongnu. "The General of the Cavalry is in charge of Bingzhou by the order of the Emperor. The promise made by the general is equivalent to the promise made by the Emperor."

"Even if the general can argue that it has nothing to do with the emperor, the eyes of the world are sharp. I am afraid that it will not be able to stop the people from talking nonsense, and the emperor will still bear the stigma of being dishonest."

Although Xun You was a counselor who used cunning and scheming, he read the books of sages after all, and attached great importance to the words faith and loyalty.

Cao Ren was already in a difficult situation. At this point, he had no time to care about anything else.

"Gongda, you are too pedantic. The Xiongnu people are unaccustomed to the king's rule and are like beasts. How can you talk about loyalty and trust with them?"

Cao Ren waved his hand disdainfully and said sternly:

"It has come to this point today. As long as we can keep Bingzhou for our Great Qin, what does it matter if we use any means necessary?"

"Let's talk about the future later. Let's get over this hurdle first!"

Xun You was retorted and had to remain silent.

In a hall.

"My Lord Dezu, even though we have the Xiongnu to help us in the war, our hope of holding on to Bingzhou has greatly increased."

"But Uncle Zixiao has ceded land to Yu Fuluo and made him a king. He has also promised to marry my three sisters to Yu Fuluo."

"Such an act that damages the national dignity, even if it is a last resort, I am afraid that when my father finds out about it in the future, he will definitely be furious."

Cao Zhi looked worried and was obviously afraid of being implicated.

After all, he came to assist Cao Ren in defending Bingzhou. He knew about and participated in Cao Ren's false imperial edict from beginning to end.

Although the main responsibility lies with Cao Ren, if Cao Cao really wants to blame him, he cannot escape blame.

After all, he was here to gain military merits, not to take the blame with Cao Ren.

"Your Highness is the future crown prince, so you must keep your composure in everything."

Yang Xiu poured Cao Zhi another glass of wine, and looked at him playfully:

"Therefore, Your Highness should quickly write a secret letter and go to Xiheshang County to report this matter to His Majesty."

"Your Highness, please write in your letter that you have tried hard to persuade the General of the Cavalry, repeatedly reminding him that this action would damage the dignity of our Great Qin and the reputation of the Emperor."

"But the General of the Cavalry, in order to protect Bingzhou, ignored your Highness's advice and insisted on going his own way."

"Your Highness should understand what Xiu means."

Yang Xiu hinted with his eyes but did not say it explicitly.

Cao Zhi was so smart that he immediately understood Yang Xiu's meaning.

Yang Xiu's move was to ask him to report this secretly to Cao Cao so as to clear himself from the whole incident.

When Bingzhou is defended by that time, his contribution will naturally be indispensable.

When Cao Cao wanted to question him about the crime of falsely conveying the imperial edict, he put all the blame on Cao Ren and distanced himself from the matter.

"Dezu, oh Dezu, you are the one who thinks long-term. Okay, okay, I know what to do!"

Cao Zhi felt relieved and drank the cup in one gulp.

...

The Qin army and the Xiongnu army thus formed an alliance.

With the help of 50,000 Xiongnu cavalry, Cao Ren immediately felt more confident and confident, and naturally he was unwilling to passively take a beating anymore.

While Cao Ren was defending Baibo Pass, he ordered Yu Fuluo to send a large number of cavalry to the south to start raiding the Han army's food supply routes.

Nearly 30,000 Xiongnu light cavalry bypassed Baibo Pass and headed south, penetrating deep into the heart of Hedong County and began to constantly harass the Han army's food supply routes.

The grain route from Jiguan to Anyi, and then from Anyi to Baiboguan, which stretched for hundreds of miles, was soon left leaky by the Huns.

Within five days, the Han army lost nearly 100,000 grains of food and fodder.

...

South of Baibo Pass is the imperial camp of the Han army.

"Your Majesty, urgent news has arrived from Anyi."

"Yesterday, another grain convoy of mine was hijacked by the Xiongnu Zuoxian Wang Huchuquan. Nearly 2,000 people, including the grain transporters and soldiers protecting the grain, were killed or injured, and 30,000 hu of grain and grass were burned by the enemy!"

Zhao Yun read out the latest emergency document in the tent.

Liu Bei's brows gradually furrowed, and the anger on his face grew stronger.

This was the fourth time in five days that the grain train had been robbed. More than 4,000 soldiers had been killed, and the loss of grain and fodder had exceeded 70,000 hu.

Even though the Han Dynasty was a powerful country, it could not withstand such consumption and loss.

"Prime Minister, Xiaozhi."

"Cao Ren has received assistance from the Xiongnu. It is clear that he intends to use his cavalry advantage to raid our army's food supply route and force us to retreat without a fight."

"How do you think I should break the impasse?"

Liu Bei suppressed his anger and looked at his two counselors.

"The current situation is almost the same as the situation during the Yishui battle."

"If we want to break through Baibo Pass, we must first defeat these 50,000 Xiongnu cavalry, just like when we broke through Yijing."

"If we want to destroy these 50,000 cavalrymen, we must lure them out of the pass and fight a decisive battle with our army, only then can we accomplish our goal in one battle!"

Xiao Fang gently waved his feather fan and gave a decisive solution.

Liu Bei nodded slightly, but then said with some concern:

"Cao Ren has set up this battle formation. It is obvious that he wants the Qin army to defend Baibo Pass without fighting, and the Xiongnu cavalry to attack us from behind and rob our grain. How dare he come out of the pass to fight me?"

The words trailed off.

Fa Zheng's eyes focused and he spoke first:

"My army of 100,000 men is at Baibo Pass, so Cao Ren will naturally not dare to come out to fight."

"So I think that Your Majesty can pretend to give up the attack on Baibo Pass and instead advance northward from Huguan, and use this as an excuse to lead the army to retreat southward."

"Only in this way can we lure Cao Ren to lead his army out of the pass and head south, and then we can have a chance to defeat the Xiongnu cavalry!"

(End of this chapter)