Soldiers come to the world

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Cao Jun built a big camp on the north bank of the Huaihe River, facing the Han army camp on the south bank of the Huaihe River. The thick snow jacket turned the whole world into a gray one. The heavy snow blocked the sight, and even the Huaihe River a hundred steps away could not be seen clearly.

Amidst the falling snow, Cheng Yu hurried to Cao Cao's big tent. Xu Chu stepped forward, hissed his lips with his index finger, and invited Cheng Yu aside and whispered, "The prime minister stayed up all night last night." , just fell asleep, the military division will come back later!"

Cheng Yu nodded and sighed inwardly. Although he finally saw through Liu Jing's real strategy, it was still a step too late. Taiyuan finally fell, and the Bingzhou government surrendered. The prime minister suffered a heavy blow and locked himself in the big tent It has been two days.

He asked again: "The prime minister can eat?"

Xu Chu smiled wryly, "I just drank a few mouthfuls of porridge, and the guard who delivered the porridge said that the prime minister seemed to have aged ten years overnight."

Cheng Yu shook his head, the prime minister was old, it was impossible to go on like this, he said to Xu Chu again: "If the prime minister wakes up, notify me immediately, I will persuade the prime minister."

"I see, I will notify the prime minister."

As soon as Xu Chu finished speaking, Cao Cao's weary voice came from inside the big tent, "Is that Zhongde outside?"

Cheng Yu and Xu Chu looked at each other, and they both smiled bitterly helplessly, Cheng Yu had no choice but to step forward and say, "It's my humble minister!"

"It's cold outside, please come in!"

"Prime Minister rest for a while! Wei Chen will come back later."

"Zhongde, please come in!"

Helpless, Cheng Yu had no choice but to walk into the big tent, and Xu Chu followed him uneasy, and saw Cao Cao wearing a big cloak, sitting beside the brazier, playing with the charcoal fire with a fire stick, under the reflection of the charcoal fire, his eyes were red , looking tired, especially his hair is even more grizzled, it can be seen that he is indeed much older.

Cheng Yu hastily bowed and saluted, "See the prime minister!"

"Zhongde, please sit down!"

Cao Cao asked Cheng Yu to sit down, and said to Xu Chu: "I suddenly want to drink some chicken soup, stew a chicken! Stew it a little bit."

"Humble job, let's go!"

Xu Chu picked up the tent and rushed out, Cao Cao shook his head, sighed and said to Cheng Yu: "Zhongde, tell me, why are we always so passive? We are led by the nose by Liu Jing."

Cheng Yu pondered for a moment and said: "Liu Jing takes the Yangtze River and the Han River as his beggar, Bashan and Qinling Mountains as obstacles, and he has a powerful navy as a supplement. His defense foundation is very solid. In addition, Jingzhou has the foundation laid by Liu Biao. Helping each other with kindness and gentleness will not harm the interests of the people of Shu, and employ people appropriately. Although there are conflicts between Jing and Shu, under the temptation of the great interests of the world, the forces of Jing and Shu can live in peace for the time being, and work together to help the Han army march northward. Weichen thinks this is Liu Jing's greatest foundation."

"What about me?" Cao Cao asked again: "Where is my weakness? Where is my foundation?"

Cheng Yu knelt down and saluted, "Prime Minister forgives my innocence, only humble ministers dare to say so."

"I pardon you not guilty, you just tell the truth, I want to hear the truth now."

Cheng Yu sighed and said, "The prime minister had three defeats, which led to today's passive situation."

"Let's be more specific, which three defeats?" Cao Cao looked solemnly, looking at Cheng Yu intently.

"The first defeat was that the Southern Expedition was too early. I was eager to go to the Southern Expedition as soon as the Yuan family was destroyed, but I didn't know that Yuan Shao was kind to Hebei. Gao Gan was very popular with the army and people in Bingzhou. The prime minister destroyed the Yuan family and killed Gao Gan. , but Hebei and Bingzhou should be completely stabilized before going south, but the prime minister was too anxious, once Chibi was defeated, the north would be unstable."

"I also know that Hebei and Bingzhou must be stabilized, and even the capital should be moved to Yecheng, and taxes should be reduced or exempted. After six or seven years, the large-scale southern expedition will start. Isn't it enough?"

"Although the prime minister was kind to Hebei and exempted Bingzhou from taxes, a southern expedition doubled the exploitation of Bingzhou and Hebei. In order to build a boat to cross the river, almost all the houses along the Yellow River were demolished. The grain and husbands were collected ten times. The remnants of the Yuan family were reclaimed a hundred times, and the remnants of the Yuan family were together, and Hebei roared in response. This is the reason why the Han army raided Taiyuan, but all parts of Bingzhou fell in anticipation of the wind. Does the prime minister understand? The people of Bingzhou have been dissatisfied with the prime minister for a long time!"

Cao Cao nodded. Although Cheng Yu spoke frankly and hit the nail on the head, he did not get angry. Instead, he silently accepted Cheng Yu's accusation. He sighed, "Zhongde is right. Although I unified the north, But the north is not stable, and the hasty expedition to the south has caused Liu Jing to become a big one. It can be said that he made a wrong step, and he made a wrong step. Please let Zhong De talk about the second defeat."

"The prime minister's second defeat is the defeat of the poor family of the Legalists. The prime minister established the poor family and demoted the family, worshiped the legalists, suppressed the Confucianists, killed the side, and punished Kong Rong, which chilled the hearts of the famous families. In fact, Liu Jing did not do well. It can be seen that he admires legalism as much as the prime minister, but he is a little more reserved, Confucianism is the skin, and the law is the bone, but his statement of "regardless of scholars and ordinary people, only talents" makes the famous family very disgusted, but he slightly Add flexibility, on the basis of taking care of the family first, let’s talk about fairness, and win the heart of the family a little bit. In addition, after the Battle of Chibi, he released 10,000+ prisoners of war, which won the gratitude of the northern clan, which is why he attacked today The North lays the groundwork."

Cao Cao sighed, "You're right, I really made a mistake in killing Kong Rong, and it's too late to regret it now."

At this time, the curtain was opened, and Xu Chu led a few guards in with a can of chicken soup and a few side dishes. Xu Chu moved very quickly, and before Cao Cao objected, he set out bowls, chopsticks and dishes, and gave them to Cao Cao. Cao filled a bowl full of thick chicken soup.

Cao Cao took a sip of the chicken soup, nodded, and said to Xu Chu, "Pour a bowl for the military division as well."

Xu Chu also poured a bowl for Cheng Yu, and Cheng Yu took a sip and said with a smile, "General Xu is very caring!"

Xu Chu blushed slightly, Cheng Yu could see through his thoughts, this was no longer pure chicken soup, it contained yam and ginseng which were smashed and mixed together, Cao Cao also knew in his heart that he was not in the mood to eat at first, but Cheng Yu gave him the soup. After unraveling his knots a little, he also had an appetite, and was really hungry. He drank a bowl of soup and another bowl of porridge, and then ordered Xu Chu to take away the things.

At this time, Cao Cao asked again: "Please tell me the third defeat."

Cheng Yu hesitated for a long time, "I don't want to talk about this third defeat."

"You have to say it, I want to hear it!" Cao Cao said solemnly.

Cheng Yu nodded silently and said, "The third defeat is the prime minister's political defeat."

"Zhongde is saying that I made Wei Gong and added Jiuxi?"

"Not only that, the prime minister coerced the emperor to order the princes. He won in the legal sense, but he lost in the moral. When the prime minister coerced the emperor to make the princes, everyone would accept it and support it, thinking it was an act of obedience to power, but it didn't work for a long time, especially after the unification of the north, the prime minister attacked the clan Liu Bei and Liu Biao in the name of the emperor. In fact, politically Lost, now Liu Jing is playing the banner of revitalizing the Han Dynasty, and he also calls his army the Han Army. The banner is clear, the goal is clear, and it has an advantage in politics. If it were not for this, how could the Han Army reach Taiyuan so smoothly? Don't the government and the people resist the harassment?"

"Zhongde is right!" Cao Cao sighed helplessly.

"Actually, I only slowly figured out the humble position after the fact. At that time, the minister was also confused. Wasn't the minister strongly advocating the southern expedition to Jingzhou? The minister also regretted not being able to persuade the Prime Minister to conquer Jingzhou a few years later."

"What's the use of saying these regrets now? The key is how I should face the predicament in front of me. Liu Jing captured Taiyuan, Bingzhou was in danger, and Yedu was in danger, but I couldn't withdraw. Zhong De taught me, what should I do now? manage?"

Cheng Yu smiled and said, "Prime Minister, do you still remember the meeting with Liu Jing on the floating bridge?"

Cao Cao nodded, "Of course I remember, so what?"

Cheng Yu said meaningfully: "After thinking about it over and over again, I feel that Liu Jing is actually hinting at the prime minister. He hopes to end this dispute through negotiations with the prime minister. I also said that Liu Jing may not be able to support Liu Jing after years of fighting. Well, this attack on Taiyuan, including uniting Jiangbei to go to the Central Plains, I think his real purpose is to force the prime minister to negotiate, of course, he is in order to obtain the greatest benefit."

In fact, Cao Cao also realized that Liu Jing wanted to bargain with him. With Liu Jing's current strength, he could not attack from three sides, so he also dragged Jiangdong into the water. The attack on Taiyuan was also a sneak attack, and it might not be able to truly occupy Bingzhou.

Cao Cao pondered for a moment and said, "I can give Guan Long to him, but he has to withdraw from Bingzhou. Does the military adviser think it's possible?"

"Weichen doesn't know either, but you can try it out. If the prime minister agrees, weichen is willing to negotiate with Liu Jing on behalf of the prime minister."

Cao Cao walked a few steps in the big tent with his hands behind his back, and finally heaved a long sigh: "The three defeats that Zhongde said really made me restless, and I will try my best to make up for it. Well, Zhongde will go for me! I will also fight this war." I don't want to fight any more."