Soldiers come to the world

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Just after it rained, on the official road in the north of Xuchang, an ox cart loaded with grain and grass stretched for more than ten miles and was slowly driving. In the quagmire, dozens of soldiers behind shouted in unison, carrying on their shoulders and pushing with their hands, pushing the cart out of the puddle.

On both sides of the official road are endless corn fields, the corn has matured, like a golden wave of millet, a thousand Cao soldiers guarding the grain and grass are walking carefully beside the corn field.

Cao Jun was extremely strict about protecting farmland. Those who practiced wheat were punished with death, even when they attacked Xiangyang. In fact, not only Cao Jun, Han Jun, Jiangdong Army, and even Liu Bei’s Jiaozhou Army were the same. They paid special attention to protecting crops. This is an agricultural society. The instinct of the regular army.

At this time, a troop of cavalry came galloping, shouted loudly, and whipped their whips mercilessly, "Get out of the way, get out of the way!"

The bullock carts were so frightened that they dodged to one side, giving way to half of the official road. After a while, thousands of cavalry came rolling in from a distance, full of murderous looks. Among the cavalry was a carriage pulled by eight strong horses. Guarded by a hundred armored cavalry regiments, this is Cao Cao's carriage. He came to Xuchang to inspect it himself.

Behind the carriage, dozens of counselors and staff followed on horseback. In addition, there was a smaller carriage in the distance, which was specially used for Cheng Yu. He was too old to ride a horse.

From the car window, Cao Cao stared solemnly at the endless millet fields on both sides. Half a month ago, his eldest son Cao Pi and Xu Huang defeated the remnants of the Yuan family in Liaodong, beheaded more than [-] rebels, and captured Yuan Shao's son and military adviser alive Xun Chen captured more than [-] women and children attached to Yuan's army, and completely wiped out the remnants of the Yuan family.

This victory in Liaodong boosted the morale of Cao's army at a critical moment, and also enhanced the prestige of his eldest son Cao Pi and himself, which made Cao Cao very pleased. It was the victory in Liaodong that gave him some confidence in this Central Plains campaign.

Cao Cao was thinking about the Battle of the Central Plains in his mind. In fact, Cao Cao knew very well why Liu Jing joined forces with Jiangdong to fight the Battle of the Central Plains. It was obviously for the sake of Guanzhong, but even if he knew, Cao Cao had no choice but to passively fight.

Cao Cao sighed, since he was preparing to take Jingzhou in the ninth year of Jian'an, he had been fighting Liu Jing for almost ten years, not only did not eliminate him, but became stronger and stronger. He could allow Liu Jing to unify the south, but he never I can't accept his Northern Expedition, but what if I don't accept it, Liu Jing captured Longxi and opened the gate of Guanzhong. Once Guanzhong is captured, the former Qin Empire will reappear, which makes Cao Cao worried.

Although Guanzhong is in danger, he has to transfer his energy to the Central Plains. If Guanzhong is really captured and he has no choice but to accept his fate, then he must not lose the Central Plains. Although Guanlong is important, the Central Plains is his core. Benefit.

Cao Cao sighed in a low voice. As he got older, his mental strength was not as good as before. In the end he will lose, and if he dies, what will happen to his children and grandchildren, what will happen to his family, Cao Cao can't think much about it.

The team hurried to the south and arrived in Xuchang an hour later. Cao Cao did not enter the city, but went to the main camp of the Cao army in the east of Xuchang. Ten thousand, and countless food and military resources.

Before the team arrived at the camp, Xiahou Dun led all the civil and military officials out of the camp to welcome Cao Cao. Among Cao Cao's four front deployments, Xiahou Dun was in charge of the Nanyang and Runan fronts, while Cao Ren was in charge of the Hefei and Xuzhou fronts.

Xiahou Dun saluted Cao Cao, and said: "I want to inform the prime minister about the situation of the Han army!"

Cao Cao waved his hands and smiled, "Let's talk after we enter the camp! Everyone is a little tired, and I also need to rest for a while."

"The base has already arranged the camp, please let the prime minister and gentlemen come in and rest."

Cao Cao led all his advisers and staff into the camp. They were already exhausted after trekking all the way, so they went to rest in their respective tents. Cao Cao also took a nap in the tents and did not recover his strength until night.

The big tent was brightly lit, and Cao Cao stood in front of the map, listening to Xiahou Dun's report with a sinking face. Although Xiahou Dun arranged the board and lodging very carefully, Cao Cao was very dissatisfied with the map in front of him.

Cao Cao asked to make a complete sand table in the Central Plains a few months ago, but so far, there are only sand tables in Nanyang and Xiangyang, and there are no other places, which makes Cao Cao happy.

Xiahou Dun looked embarrassed. He knew that Cao Cao was angry with the sand table, but there was nothing he could do about it. It would take at least a year to make a sand table, and a large number of scouts would be needed to investigate on the spot. It is only a few months now, so how could it be possible to make it.

Since Cao Cao didn't mention it, he could only pretend he didn't know, and reported: "At present, the Han army is also mobilizing troops on a large scale. The army in Xiangyang is about 6 people, with Wenpin as the main general, and the army in Anlu County is about 5 people, with Gan Ning as the main general, this is 11 people. According to reliable information, Liu Jing is leading 14 troops on the way to Xiangyang. At that time, the Han army will have [-] people. I am not worried about Jiangdong. , I am worried about the pressure from the Han army."

Cao Cao didn't express his opinion, but asked again: "How is the situation in Jiangdong?"

Cao Ren was in charge of Jiangdong, so Xiahou Dun should not have been asked about it logically, but since Cao Cao asked about it, Xiahou Dun had to report: "I just heard that there are still differences within Jiangdong, and it seems to be a dispute for dominance. Both the Wuyue faction wanted to lead the Northern Expedition, but in the end Sun Quan forcibly appointed them. The leader of the Jiangbei faction, Lu Meng, was in charge of the Xuzhou attack, and the Wuyue faction leader, Lu Xun, was in charge of the Hefei attack. The troops were the same, each with a rate of 4, led by Sun Quan. In addition, I heard that there is also a situation in Jingnan."

"What's the situation?" Cao Cao asked curiously.

"Sun Quan appointed Bu Zhi as the governor of Jingnan, and led [-] troops to Jingnan."

Just as Xiahou Dun said this, a voice came from the door of the big tent, "This is Liu Jing's poisonous scheme, and Sun Quan thought he had taken advantage of it."

Cao Cao turned his head and saw Cheng Yu walking in. He bowed to Cao Cao, "Please forgive me for entering the account without authorization."

"This is my license, Zhong De doesn't need to apologize."

Cao Cao asked again: "Why is it Liu Jing's poisonous plan?"

Cheng Yu nodded to Xiahou Dun, then sneered and said, "I know that Liu Bei has no choice but to go to Jiaozhou. He didn't want to return to the north all the time in Panyu, but he was afraid of the strength of the Han army, so he didn't dare to act rashly. But now the four counties in Jingnan It has become the Jiangdong Army, and Jiangdong is far away, it is difficult to rescue Jingnan, and its strength is far weaker than that of the Han Army, how can Liu Bei not be indifferent."

"But Liu Bei's army is fighting for Jiaozhou with the Shijia army, how can he have the energy to look north?" Xiahou Dun asked puzzled.

Cheng Yu shook his head, "This is because Yuan Rang's news is not timely. Liu Bei's army has completely defeated Shi Xie, and Shi Xie has only one county left in Jiaozhi. This is the news half a year ago. Now Liu Bei's army should unify Jiaozhou."

Cao Cao was silent for a moment, then asked: "Does Zhongde mean that Liu Jing assigned the four Jingnan counties to Liu Bei in order to provoke a war between Liu Bei and Jiangdong?"

"It must be so. I have been thinking about this all the way. Sun Quan has been seeking Jingnan for a long time, and Liu Bei is also eager to return to Jingnan. Although he is afraid of Liu Jing, he is not afraid of Jiangdong. I believe Liu Bei will definitely find an opportunity to attack north. Jiangdong will not give up Jingnan easily, so he was dragged in. With a small Jingnan, Jiangdong was finally dragged to death. I really admire Liu Jing's methods. I'm starting to doubt Liu Jing's real intention to provoke the Central Plains campaign this time."

"There are also masters in Jiangdong. Could it be that they can't see Liu Jing's move?" Cao Cao asked suspiciously.

Cheng Yu smiled slightly, "The problem is not whether Jiangdong has a master, but whether Jiangdong's information is timely and accurate. If Jiangdong knew that Liu Bei was about to unify Jiaozhou, they would not easily swallow this bait. Now it seems that Jiangdong is not Knowing the situation in Jiaozhou, it is reasonable to make wrong decisions.”

Cao Cao paced back and forth in the big tent with his hands behind his back. His mind was very confused. Cheng Yu's words suddenly opened a hole in his heart, but he couldn't see clearly. Cao Cao's thoughts, he carefully reminded from the side: "The prime minister is considering using Liu Bei!"

Cao Cao realized that instead of slowly clearing up his thoughts by himself, it is better to invite Tutor Yu, he must have thought clearly on the way, he quickly said: "Please teach me Zhongde!"

Cheng Yu pondered for a while and said, "We can support Liu Bei and help him grow stronger, but I can't do anything in a short period of time, but the prime minister can send someone to meet with Liu Bei to express his support for him, and there will definitely be opportunities to join hands with Liu Bei in the future .”

Speaking of this, Cheng Yu smiled again, "Of course, Prime Minister, don't have too much hope for Liu Bei. We just use him a little bit. Due to Liu Jing's strength, Liu Bei's role is also limited. Hold Liu Jing at this time and buy us time."

Cao Cao nodded, "This is enough!"

He said to Xiahoudun again: "Yuan Rang go down first!"

Xiahou Dun bowed and stepped back quickly. Only Cao Cao and Cheng Yu were left in the big tent. They sat down and remained silent for a while. I don’t know what Zhongde thinks about Jin being the king of Wei, including the eldest son.”

Cheng Yu knew Cao Cao very well. If Cao Cao had no intentions, he would not allow this kind of voice to arise at all, let alone ask himself. Now that he came to ask himself for advice, it was obvious that he himself was tempted. He actually came to ask The rationality of Jin Feng.

Cheng Yu is different from Xun Yu and Xun You. Cheng Yu is not loyal to the Han Dynasty, he is loyal to the Cao family, and he is good at flexibility, which is one of the main reasons why he can die well in the end. However, Cheng Yu is calmer and more capable. Look at the problem rationally.

He pondered for a moment and said: "It's not impossible for the prime minister to become the king of Wei, and the ministers also fully support it, but I think this matter needs to be discussed in a long-term manner, and it cannot be rushed."

Cheng Yu's words were pleasing to Cao Cao's ears, and he smiled slightly: "The long-term plan that Zhong De said refers to Liu Jing!"

Cheng Yu nodded, "Now we still need to concentrate on fighting against Liu Jing, but Liu Jing's people and financial resources are too much for him to fight like this. I think he will definitely stop fighting with us and spend three to five years to cultivate himself. Shengxi, at this time, the prime minister will turn his attention to politics, and the Jin will be the king of Wei, and the heir will be determined. Even if the prime minister doesn't think about it now, he can't avoid it at that time. This is called success."

Cao Cao happily smiled and said, "Zhongde's words are great kindness!"

........