Yuan Shao, the father of Fanghua in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 712 Nanyang Undercurrent
Although Cao Cao planned to go to Nanyang, he did not leave immediately. Instead, he first asked his counselors to contact Nanyang, and at the same time asked the generals to prepare and wait for the opportunity.

After all, he is suspicious by nature and will not act rashly if he is not sure.

However, a piece of news came from Yecheng a few days later, which made Cao Cao determined.

Yuan Shang mobilized troops and horses in Yecheng, went south to Dongwuyang, and began to cross the Yellow River and enter Yanzhou.

Its leading force Wen Chou, with thousands of civilians and engineers, rebuilt the ferry south of Dongwuyang and began to cross the river one after another, with the goal of Guandu!
Upon hearing the news, Cao Cao was overjoyed and said to the generals: "You can go to Nanyang now!"

Xun Yu expressed his doubts on behalf of all the counselors, "The Jizhou army invaded Yanzhou. Duke Ming should be worried about being attacked from both sides. Why are you so happy?"

Cao Cao laughed and said: "I laugh at the fierce tiger because it will be difficult to send troops!"

"If he intends to attack Sili, he will definitely wait for me to take action first, and then he and Yuan Shang will march separately, so that I can't take care of each other on three sides, so that he can take advantage of it."

"Now that Yuan Shang takes action first, it shows several possibilities."

"First, the two of them didn't get along, and they didn't communicate with each other beforehand, which led to them fighting on their own."

"But with Yuan Shang's character, he will definitely not bear the brunt of this."

"The second is that the two are colluding with each other, making false claims in the east and attacking in the west."

After hearing this, all the counselors nodded in agreement. Fierce Tiger would never do meaningless things, it could only have other motives.

Cao Cao continued: "The two of them are plotting nothing more than a few places."

"Yanzhou, Sili, or Jiangdong, and Qingzhou!"

"Except for Jiangdong, the other three places will benefit from Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang's defeat!"

"Over there in the east of the Yangtze River, Sun Quan's newborn calf was not afraid of tigers, and he dared to stroke the tiger's beard. The ferocious tiger will definitely retaliate, and sooner or later he will come back with revenge, but the possibility is not very high now. After all, it is too far to transport troops, and his troops in Shouchun The military strength is mainly aimed at us."

"In this way, the purpose is clear. The two sons of the Yuan family sent troops this time to target my alliance with Yuan Tan!"

"Yuan Tan is in Qingzhou, and there is no problem in self-protection, so I choose one of the chief ministers in Yanzhou. In comparison, Yanzhou is much weaker."

"Whether the opponent is bluffing or not, Yanzhou cannot be lost, so I plan to divide the troops into two groups. Yuan Rang will lead the main force to Guandu along the way."

After hearing this, Xiahou Dun's face froze. Do you still want me to go?

Didn't I just suffer a defeat at the hands of a fierce tiger?
But at this time, as the commander-in-chief, he must not show any cowardice and stood up immediately to accept the order.

Cao Cao then said: "I will take ten thousand people to Nanyang to recruit Zhang Xiu, and then join forces with him to attack Xinye. After defeating Liu Bei, we will wait for the opportunity."

"If Yuan Rang's situation is unfavorable, I will return to the army to rescue him. If Yuan Rang can stop Yuan Shang in Guandu, I will take advantage of the situation and go south to Jingzhou!"

When all the counselors heard this, Xun You was the first to speak up: "Is it too risky for Mr. Cao to lead these people?"

"What if Zhang Xiuxin becomes rebellious?"

Cao Ca stroked his beard and said, "Zhang Xiu is timid, and the reputation of the Xiliang Army has been ruined. If he wants to find a way out for his descendants, he must use the name of the emperor, which is why he is willing to surrender to me. "

"As long as I have the help of the Xiliang soldiers, my strength will greatly increase. Whether it is defeating Liu Bei or fighting against the Yuan family in the north, I will be much more certain."

"Besides, now that Yuan Tan has married me, the Yuan family's strength is not as good as before, and the two sons of Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang are still fighting to the death. When I integrate Ma Teng, Han Sui, and Zhang Xiu, and drive Yuan Shu, I will surely be able to capture Jizhou and seize the Central Plains within three years! "

What he hasn't said yet is that he has already established a certain relationship with Zhang Xiu, and the chance of success this time is extremely high!

When all the counselors and generals saw that Cao Cao had made up his mind, they all said: "Ming Gong has a long-term plan and will succeed immediately!"

Cao Cao couldn't help but feel elated when he heard the compliments from everyone.

He was completely lost!
Now, although his vitality has not recovered, the Yuan family's second son has also been seriously injured. He really can't imagine that he has any possibility of losing when Sili is fortified at all levels and Yanzhou's main force is defending Guandu.

Zhang Xiu has initially agreed to surrender. The only variable is Liu Bei in Xinye. However, after he was defeated by him, he has only accumulated thousands of troops so far.

As for Cao Cao himself, in addition to the 1 troops he brought, Zhang Xiu also had more than [-] troops. With the same strength, Liu Bei couldn't defeat him. How could he lose between [-] and [-]?
There is absolutely no chance of losing, okay!

Cao Cao thought about it, but he never thought of the possibility of his defeat in Nanyang. This was especially true for Cao Cao's camp counselors. Zhang Xiu, a Xiliang soldier, made him a general in the name of the emperor, and he became grateful and returned the favor. What can be dissatisfied with?

Moreover, Yuan Shang on the Jizhou side was probably bluffing to contain Cao Jun's actions. As long as Yanzhou defended well and Yuan Tan held back in Qingzhou, even if Yuan Xi and Yuan Shang joined forces, it would be difficult to capture Guandu.

As long as Cao Cao's army holds on to the city, and when Cao Cao defeats Liu Bei, he will be invincible whether he takes advantage of the situation and goes south to Jingzhou or returns to Yanzhou to aid Yanzhou.

At this moment, the trend has been achieved!

After thinking about it, no one thought of any accidents caused by the intervention of other forces. It was almost impossible for Fierce Tiger to cross the Sili defense line in everyone's eyes!

Thinking of this, Cao Cao's camp counselors were all optimistic. They seemed to have seen the dawn of Cao Cao's unification of the world!

Nanyang Xinye.

"The current situation is very wrong." The scribe opposite Liu Bei said.Liu Bei looked solemn after hearing this, put down the cup in his hand, and said solemnly: "Sir, please give me some advice."

In the six months since he fled to Xinye, although factors such as limited grain and grass land have limited the increase in the number of soldiers under his command, on the other hand, it has been greatly supplemented.

counselor.

Liu Bei's reputation at this time has spread throughout the world, especially his righteous deeds in Xuzhou and Yuzhou, which were praised by scholars and people all over the world. Therefore, after he arrived in Xinye, scholars from Jingzhou continued to defect to him.

Jingzhou was originally a place of refuge for the scholars in Guanzhong after Dong Zhuo's rebellion. Liu Biao also established free schools and recruited scholars, which caused many nobles to gather in Jingzhou. For a time, the number of famous scholars in Jingzhou was more than that of several other states combined. .

These celebrities heard about Liu Bei's reputation and came to him one after another. Among these people, one of them was the most appreciated by Liu Bei, and that was Xu Shu.

Xu Shu, whose real name was Xu Fu, took refuge in Jingzhou with Shi Guangyuan from the same county, and had close contacts with Sima Hui, Zhuge Liang, Cui Zhouping and others.When Liu Bei was stationed in Xinye, Xu Shu went to seek refuge with him. After talking to him, Liu Bei was filled with admiration and worshiped him as his military advisor.

The person speaking opposite Liu Bei now was Xu Shu. When he saw Liu Bei asking, he cupped his hands and said, "The most unusual thing is of course Cao Cao's actions."

"He has been staying in Xu County for a winter and has not left."

"Logically speaking, what he has to do now is either to defend Yanzhou or to plot Jianghuai from Yuzhou."

"But he is now in Yingchuan, which only shows that his goal is not the two, but Jingzhou!"

As soon as these words came out, Liu Bei and Guan Yu and Zhang Fei who were present turned pale at each other. Doesn't this mean that Cao Cao wants to take advantage of his unstable foothold and come to kill them all?
Xu Shu saw this and comforted him: "My lord, please rest assured, it is not us who are bearing the brunt now, but Zhang Xiu."

"Wancheng, where it is located, is more important than Xinye, and if Cao Cao wants to attack Xinye, he must pass through Wancheng. This cannot be bypassed."

"As long as Cao's army advances towards Wancheng, we can send troops from Xinye to contain him and help Zhang Xiu to prevent him from achieving his wish."

"But what I'm worried about now is Zhang Xiu's attitude."

"Now that we have exchanged letters several times, I always feel that something is not quite right between the lines in Zhang Xiu's reply."

Then he sighed: "It's a pity. Zhuge Kongming, who is far better than me, will definitely be able to see the truth behind this matter."

Liu Bei listened and said with great interest: "The one you are talking about is one of the four friends, the one who is rumored to be able to stargaze?"

Zhang Fei, who was standing by, heard the word "stargazing" and immediately said with disdain: "Everything about stargazing, isn't it all a lie?"

"That Fierce Tiger also used this to deceive people. In my opinion, it's just a trick."

"I'm afraid Mr. Yuanzhi was also deceived by the other party."

Xu Shu was not angry after hearing this and said with a smile: "Does the general think that Xiu Hu's reputation over the years is based on his own strength or on his seemingly deceptive stargazing?"

Zhang Fei almost choked to death at Xu Shu's words. What did he say?
If Xiuhu's stargazing skills are deceptive, then his more brilliant achievements than Liu Bei in recent years, doesn't it mean that he is more powerful than Liu Bei?
But if you say that stargazing is real, wouldn’t it be a slap in the face?

Guan Yu was quite interested in this and said, "In my opinion, what exactly is stargazing?"

“If we can really spy on destiny and predict the future, wouldn’t it mean that those who can’t watch stars will always be one step behind?”

"So in order to fight against people who know how to watch stars, I can only master stargazing by myself?"

Xu Shu stroked his beard and said, "That's a good question, general."

"The theory of stargazing is illusory, and I actually don't really believe it."

"But Kong Mingxin, this is enough."

After Liu Bei heard this, his eyes narrowed, "Yuan Zhi actually admires him so much?"

Xu Shu sighed and said: "Kong Ming has many advantages over me and is more qualified than me to be the military advisor.

"Originally, I wanted to recommend him to my lord. Unfortunately, when I went to visit him in Nanyang Mountain, I heard that he had already gone to Wancheng, and I was afraid that he had gone to Zhang Xiu."

"Compared with my lord, Zhang Xiu can hardly be called a lord of Ming. I don't know what Kong Ming thinks."

After Zhang Fei heard this, he didn't take it seriously and said: "If you give up your eldest brother and choose Zhang Xiu, your taste is not that good!"

"I recognize that you have real talent and knowledge, sir, but there are too many celebrities in Jingzhou. I could kill several of them with just one slap on the street. It is inevitable that there will be people who deceive the world and steal their fame."

"I heard that this man is less than twenty years old. If he has any real talent or knowledge, I'm afraid it's just a lie?"

Xu Shu shook his head and said: "Huang Chengyan can marry his precious daughter to her, how can he be a wasted person?"

"The talent of a person is like a blazing fire and a bright sun, which can be seen at a glance."

After hearing this, Liu Bei became very interested and said, "Yuan Zhi said this, I would like to go to Wancheng and meet this man in person!"

(End of this chapter)