Chapter Twenty: Selling Tricks

  Tens of thousands of troops moved, winding like a dragon, the loud sound of horseshoes was like rolling thunder, echoing for miles, footsteps trampling made the ground tremble, the momentum was majestic and unparalleled.

  This was Li Chong's first time taking action with tens of thousands of troops, and the magnificent scene made his heart surge with excitement, the hot air in his chest almost bursting out.

  Not only Li Chong, but also Yuan Shao had no experience in leading an army of over 100,000 men. Seeing the grand scene of the army, he was also very pleased and said to the crowd: "We lead the great army to punish the rebels, and our names will be remembered for thousands of years. We should compose a poem as evidence. Although I am clumsy, I want to throw out a brick to attract jade, and compose a poem:

  With solemn dignity, we gather here to discuss the king's affairs.

  All my allies are both civil and military.

  We are united in our determination, with rules and regulations.

  Our goal is to bring peace and prosperity, to share the same dust and dirt.

  Each of us will do his best to assist the country.

  We will act according to the law, and not speak out of turn.

  Can we support each other? If there is a deficiency, we will make up for it.

  Yuan Shao finished his poem, and everyone applauded. Yuan Shao was naturally proud of himself and said to Cao Cao, "Mengde is a great talent, don't let me monopolize the praise."

  Cao Cao's literary talent is naturally not to be mentioned, and after a moment of contemplation, he spoke out loud: "Frost congeals in the tenth month of winter, killing the luxuriant and cooling the withered. The vast expanse of the plain stretches for thousands of miles, with cavalry galloping back and forth. The flat plains meet the merging smoke, fierce flames returning with the wind. Wild beasts are hunted at Hua Rong Pu, and Zhang Yu's music echoes from Jing Shan Tai. The people of Yu have a saying: 'Clearly hold on to the warning'."

  Cao Cao finished his poem and said with a bow: "I have made my humble contribution." The crowd erupted in applause again, but since Cao Cao's literary talent far surpassed that of the others, it was likely that anyone else who tried to compose a poem would be embarrassed by comparison. Therefore, all the other nobles remained silent.

  Li Chong had long been itching to show off, and seeing no one else speaking up, he shamelessly plagiarized: "Northern scenery, a thousand miles of icy landscape, ten thousand miles of snowy fluttering. Looking at the Great Wall inside and out, only desolation remains; on the great river above and below, suddenly losing its grandeur. Mountains dance with silver snakes, plains gallop with wax elephants, wanting to compete with the heavens for height. On a clear day, watch the red-clad and white-wrapped, exceptionally enchanting."

  , led countless heroes to bow their heads. Alas, Qin Emperor and Han Wu slightly lost in literary elegance; Guan Zhong and Yue Yi were somewhat inferior. A generation of barbarian rulers, the Xiongnu Khan, only knew how to shoot eagles with a curved bow.

  "All have passed away; many heroes of the past are now but a memory. Let us cherish this moment today."

  As soon as Li Zhong spoke, everyone was stunned. To say that it has a majestic and grand tone, the poem "Qingyuan Chunxue" plagiarized by Li Zhong is naturally far superior to Cao Cao's and Yuan Shao's poems.

  Li Zhongming was unknown and nobody recognized him, which made people curious.

  Yuan Shao thought for a moment, and his heart suddenly became excited. Could it be that I, Yuan Benchu, am really comparable to Qin Huang and Han Wu? To say that Yuan Shao is somewhat arrogant and self-loving. Suddenly, he thought that Li Zhong was hinting at himself, and he felt more pleased with Li Zhong, and didn't mind Li Zhong's reckless words.

  Seeing Li Chong closely following Cao Cao, Yuan Shao smiled and said: "Mengde, who is this robust man?"

  Cao Cao smiled and said: "Li Ziyue is a hero of Pingzhou, when I issued the proclamation to the world that day, he was the first to respond, and he is very loyal and righteous."

  Yuan Shao sighed and said: "Zi Hui is indeed a righteous scholar!"

  "Thank you, Lord Yuan, for your praise, but I, Li Zhong, am unworthy and dare not accept it."

  Yuan Shao burst out laughing...

  Fifty miles away from Tiger Trap Pass, Yuan Shao saw that the sky was getting dark and ordered to set up camp, waiting for news from vanguard Sun Jian.

  Yuan Shao stayed in the camp for several days, but he didn't intend to advance his troops. He spent his days drinking and passing the time, which wasn't because Yuan Shao was afraid of battle. Rather, all parties were unwilling to deplete their forces, shifting the blame onto each other. Yuan Shao also wanted to observe and consolidate his army, so he halted his troops near Tiger Trap Pass.

  Cao Cao urged Yuan Shao to advance every day, but Yuan Shao felt that his control over the army was not enough, so he kept making excuses. Cao Cao, unable to do anything about it, composed a poem:

  In the east, there are righteous men,

  Raising an army to punish the wicked.

  Initially, we met at the Alliance of Tongjin,

  But their hearts were in Chang'an.

  The combined forces were not united,

  Hesitating and advancing separately.

  Self-interest caused people to contend,

  And in the end, they killed each other.

  In the south of Huai, a younger brother claimed the title,

  Engraving his seal in the north.

  Armor and helmets bred lice,

  Ten thousand families died.

  White bones exposed in the wilderness,

  A thousand miles without the sound of chickens chirping.

  One hundred people survived out of ten thousand,

  Thinking about it cuts off one's intestines.

  This is the famous poem "Song of Mount Song".

  Li Chong's status was lowly and he could only watch, but fortunately there was no lack of food and grass, so he let Taishi Ci train the soldiers in martial arts every day, which was also a worthwhile trip.

  Li Zhongzheng was playing with a brazier in his tent when suddenly a soldier came to report: "Yuan Shao has given an order, tomorrow we will advance on Tiger Trap Pass."

  Li Zhong was puzzled and didn't know why Yuan Shao suddenly ordered the army to advance. He asked the messenger, but received a shocking piece of news: Sun Jian had beheaded Hua Xiong, one of Dong Zhuo's most powerful generals, in the Battle of Yangren.

  "Get out!" Li Chong only felt a sudden flutter in his heart, mechanically waved his hand, and the messenger retreated quietly.

  It doesn't make sense! Shouldn't Hua Xiong have been killed by Guan Yu? How did it become that he was beheaded by Sun Jian instead? Is the so-called "Wine Offering and Beheading of Hua Xiong" all a lie? Li Zhong thought to himself, if this is true, then it's too frightening. His own advantage lies in being one step ahead, but if even this advantage is gone, then Li Zhong is no different from an ordinary person.

  Helpless, Li Chong could only go with the flow.

  Historical records are of course correct, Hua Xiong was killed by Sun Jian. The so-called "Wine Beheading of Hua Xiong" is just the result of artistic processing in "Romance of the Three Kingdoms". It's normal that Li Zhong doesn't know this point.

  What he didn't know was that Sun Jian's killing of Hua Xiong occurred a year earlier than in history.

  In fact, Yuan Shao did not think of advancing, until 192 AD, Cao Cao abandoned his troops and pursued Dong Zhuo alone. That is to say, due to Li Chong's joining, the overall trend of history has not changed, but the course of history has accelerated, which can also be regarded as a result of the butterfly effect.

  Sun Jian won the victory, but Yuan Shu was not willing to let such a great achievement fall into Sun Jian's hands. He cut off Sun Jian's grain and fodder supplies. Sun Jian was extremely angry and went to see Yuan Shu. Yuan Shu felt guilty in his heart and hastily placated Sun Jian, who then withdrew his troops back to camp.

  What further enraged Yuan Shao was that after Dong Zhuo's defeat, he attempted to win over Sun Jian but failed, and then beheaded more than 50 members of the Yuan family in Luoyang, displaying their heads publicly. This made Yuan Shao spit out blood in anger and grief, and he vowed to have Dong Zhuo tortured to death with a thousand cuts.

  The allied forces were stationed below Tiger Trap Pass, stretching for several miles, with a momentum that shook the sky. Yuan Shao, in his haste, ordered the continuous construction of siege engines throughout the night. The situation at Tiger Trap Pass was critical, and Dong Zhuo in Luoyang received the news with great alarm, hastily convening his civil and military officials to discuss countermeasures.

  Actually, according to Dong Zhuo's intention, it would be better to burn Luoyang with one fire and return to Chang'an. Although Dong Zhuo had an army of over 100,000 men, most of them were stationed near Chang'an, fighting against the White Wave Army, and only 50,000 were brought to Luoyang. In terms of military strength, Dong Zhuo was at a absolute disadvantage.

  However, there was opposition from Lü Bu, who had just surrendered to Dong Zhuo. Lü Bu was extremely arrogant and viewed the armies of the East as mere chickens and dogs, which could not withstand his cavalry from Pingzhou, so he strongly requested to go to battle.

  Dong Zhuo had no intention of agreeing, but after some thought, Lü Bu had just defected to him, and his subordinates were numerous and difficult to control. It was better to use the hands of the heroes of Guandong to consume Lü Bu's strength a bit, so that Lü Bu's power would not become too great and difficult to suppress.

  Lü Bu led Zhang Liao, Gao Shun, Wei Xu and Zang Ba, four senior generals, as well as 20,000 iron cavalry from his own unit, to rush overnight to the Tiger Trap Pass, opening the curtain of the Battle of Tiger Trap Pass.