In the spring of 197 AD, Yuan Shu proclaimed himself emperor and Cao Zheng took command of the southern expedition. In less than a month, Yuan Shu was defeated by Cao Zheng and led some of the defeated soldiers to escape to Huainan to continue struggling.
In the sixth month, Cao Zheng ordered the rest of the army to return to the capital, with the exception of Xu Huang and a portion of Cao Cao's troops who stayed in Shouchun.
When they arrived at the capital, Cao Cao and the other civil and military officials came out to welcome them.
It couldn't be helped. Cao Zheng's battle was going too smoothly.
This war had taken a total of thirty days, of which twenty days were spent on the journey back and forth, and less than a day was spent on fighting Yuan Shu. He spent the rest of his time in Shouchun City.
No matter how cowardly Yuan Shu was, he still had hundreds of thousands of soldiers under him. Although they knew that Cao Zheng was powerful, they did not expect him to be so powerful.
If the messenger hadn't told them everything that had happened, none of the civil and military officials would have believed it.
What was even more bizarre was that when other armies fought, there would always be people who died in battle. At the very least, there would be some injuries.
As for Cao Zheng's 100,000 strong army, only a few hundred of them were injured.
The biggest loss was that he had used up all his arrows. The bacon, sausages, wine, and desserts that the army had brought with them were all gone…
Other people risked their lives to fight a war, but Cao Zheng had obviously brought a group of people on a public holiday and fought a group fight.
At this moment, more than ten miles away from the west gate of Xu City.
A group of thousands of cavalrymen slowly approached.
The general in the lead held the Tiger Head Luan Gold Spear and rode a Lightning White Dragon Stallion. Behind him were the six thousand personal guards of the Ghost Owl Battalion. As for the main army, they were led by Commander Jin, who arrived shortly after.
"It's Second Young Master!"
"Second Young Master is back!"
"Big brother, Ziyi is really back!”
“……”
At once, outside the Ten Mile Pavilion.
Xiahou Dun was leading a group of civil and military officials to welcome Cao Zheng's arrival!
Cao Zheng was now the grand marshal of the Southern Conquest.
As a result, Cao Cao sent Xiahou Dun and his ministers to welcome them.
In the distance, Xiahou Dun could see thousands of elite cavalrymen guarding Cao Zheng amidst the dust.
Her eyes were filled with envy and gratification.
When the army approached.
Cao Zheng immediately ordered the entire army to dismount and walk.
Then, he handed the spear to Li Wei.
Since his father had given him enough face, he couldn't use his face as a piece of paper to wipe his butt.
He knew that the people who had come today were not only direct descendants of the Cao family, but also other officials of the imperial court.
Some of them supported Cao Cao.
And some people secretly hoped that the Cao family would be unlucky.
Cao Zheng shouted,"
"Uncle Yuan Rang, I haven't seen you for a month. How have you been?”
Xiahou Dun also took a few steps forward and pulled Cao Ang's arm."
"Ziyi, you've made us proud this time! You even brought our brats. If it wasn't for Big Brother not asking me to go, I would have long wanted to see how you fight!”
"Uncle, you praise me too much! I was just lucky!"
"Haha! What was this? Luck was also a type of strength! Uncle, I'm just unlucky. I lose every time. People call me General Chang Bai, so I don't even dare to lead my troops out!”
"Uncle, you must be joking!"
At this moment, Cao Ren, Cao Hong, Cao Chun, Xiahou Yuan, Dian Wei, Li Dian, and the others also stepped forward to greet him!
Cao Zheng was also his uncle, so he kept calling him General.
There wasn't a hint of arrogance from a victorious return.
This caused everyone to look up to him again.
Behind them, Guo Jia, Xun Yu, and the others also stepped forward.
Naturally, there was some small talk.
And at the last position.
However, there were a bunch of villains who looked on coldly. Not only did they not come up to speak, but they also looked indifferent.
Cao Zheng looked over.
They saw the leader.
He was wearing a tall hat and a broad belt, and his face was filled with arrogance!
This person was Kong Rong!
Towards Kong Rong's arrogance.
Cao Zheng did not mind.
After all, Kong Rong was like this in front of Old Cao.
Cao Zheng had no interest in being cold.
He directly ignored them.
This time, Kong Rong didn't say anything.
A young man beside him said,
"This is nothing. It's just a victory. How rude, he didn't even speak to us!”
His voice was very loud. Not only did Cao Zheng hear his words, but Cao Cao and the other ministers also heard them.
Dian Wei couldn't help but angrily rebuke,"Yang Xiu brat, who are you to speak here?”
Yang Xiu knew of Dian Wei's bad temper and directly stopped moving.
"It's just the courage of a common man, what's there to be proud of?" Kong Rong continued.”
Cao Zheng stopped Dian Wei, who was about to speak, and said to Kong Rong calmly,
"I was wondering who it was. So it's Kong Beihai! But where was Kong Beihai's North Sea?”
"You, you, you…"
After a long time, she didn't continue.
In the battle last year, Kong Rong had ordered Yuan Shao's son, Yuan Tan, to flee the city.
His wife and son were captured.
This was the pain of his life.
At this moment, Cao Zheng had mercilessly ripped off his scar in front of everyone.
Kong Rong was so ashamed that he almost fainted. How could he still have the face to refute?
He left dejectedly.
The people around him also felt that they had lost face and left one after another.
However, there was one person who caught Cao Zheng's attention.
"Uncle Yuan Rang, is that Sima Lang?”
Cao Zheng asked Xiahou Dun.
"Yes, it's him. Not long ago, he came to seek refuge with the lord. Do you know him?”
Xiahou Dun asked curiously.
"Oh, I don't know him. I'm just asking casually.”
If Cao Zheng had not met Sima Lang today, he would have probably forgotten about the incident at Gaoping Mausoleum and the fact that Sima Yi had killed three of his clans.
After returning to Xudu, Cao Zheng and his army received an unexpected welcome.
Seeing that the two sides of the street were lined with commoners, and everyone had a sincere smile on their faces, Cao Zheng felt flattered.
When they arrived at the Prime Minister's residence, Old Cao lowered his steps to welcome them.
"Father, your son is back."
Cao Zheng kowtowed to Cao Cao and said.
"It's good that you're back. Go and see your mother first, and then go see the emperor tomorrow!”
Without waiting for Cao Zheng's reply.
Cao Ang, who was older than Cao Zheng and had a strong body, came up to him and said,"
"Second brother, you've worked hard. This brother originally wanted to fight with you on the battlefield, but there must be someone left at home.”
"It's fine, big brother. In the future, I will be in charge of conquering the world, and you will be in charge of governing the world. When you and I join hands, there will be no enemy that we can't defeat, and there will be no difficulties that we can't overcome.”
Cao Zheng looked at his big brother who should have died long ago and felt a little regretful. However, because he had recruited Zhang Xiu, Cao Ang's fate had changed.
"Let's go! Let's go and see mother now!" Cao Ang said as he walked with Cao Zheng.
Cao Ang, Cao Zheng, and Qinghe were all born to Cao Cao's wife, Lady Liu!
But Lady Liu died early.
Only three motherless children were left behind.
Later, Cao Cao's first wife, Ding Shi, had no children.
Therefore, Cao Ang, Cao Zheng, and Qinghe were handed over to the main wife, Madam Ding, to be raised.
It was also because she had no children that Ding shi treated Cao Zheng and Cao Ang as her own children and doted on Cao Zheng in every possible way.
At the same time, he had the greatest expectations for Cao Ang.
At this time, Ding shi and Dong Bai, who had not seen Cao Zheng for nearly a month, heard that Cao Zheng had returned to Xu City today. The two of them were about to rush to the front hall with Qing He.
As soon as he stepped out, he saw Cao Ang and Cao Zheng walking towards him.
At this moment, Madam Ding's eyes were filled with tears, but the corners of her mouth could not hide her joy."Who said that my son is unfilial! My son has made contributions on the battlefield and is famous in the world! I'm so happy that I can't blame you!”
Ever since Cao Zheng took command of the army.
Although Madam Ding was worried about her son's safety from time to time, she also enjoyed the glory that her son brought to her!
Originally, her position in the Cao backyard was second to none. Ever since Cao Zheng had made outstanding contributions, her and Cao Ang's positions had become even more stable.
He would praise Cao Zheng whenever he met someone, which made the women in the backyard of the Cao family envious.
They all regretted that they hadn't adopted Cao Zheng back then. However, the one who regretted it the most was Madam Bian.
Lady Bian did have the chance to do so back then. However, Cao Cao was busy with his career and did not have the chance to care about Cao Zheng. Otherwise, Cao Cao would not have left his home for Luoyang before Cao Zheng was even a month old.
However, it was all too late now. Cao Ang was about to enter the official career at the age of 20, and Cao Zheng had been following Cao Cao since the beginning of his army. He defeated Lu Bu in Yanzhou and Yuan Shu in Huainan. These two battles had earned Cao Zheng enough credit. Moreover, there was now a eldest grandson of the Cao family. If he was the eldest son, Cao Zheng could be made the heir without any conditions.
However, Cao Zheng still had an elder brother above him. Therefore, as long as the two brothers lived in harmony, the Cao Clan would become an indestructible rope. Unless the brothers turned against each other, others might not have the chance to defeat them.
This book is provided by FunNovel Novel Book | Fan Fiction Novel [Beautiful Free Novel Book]