Three Kingdoms: Liu Bei seeks the master and seeks to conquer the world

Chapter 312 Competing for Yanzhou, Cao and Liu each have elite troops

Xun Yu and Guo Jia disagreed.

Xun Yu insisted on winning Yanzhou with righteousness in the name of the Son of Heaven.

Guo Jia believes that military conflict is inevitable. Instead of responding passively, it is better to take the initiative to send troops and compete with Liu Bei in Yanzhou.

Xun Yu is actually quite embarrassing now. When Cao Cao was still in Dongwuyang, Xun Yu had already proposed the strategy of serving the emperor so that he would not be a minister.

But now that several years have passed, this strategy has never really been realized.

Xun Yu wanted to maintain the orthodoxy of the emperor to ensure that the interests of the Yingchuan gentry would not be damaged.

But I just met Liu Bei who couldn't be restrained by the order of the emperor, and this Liu Bei also secretly controlled the three states of Qingxuyang and Yangzhou, and he also had supporters in Yanzhou.

This also made Cao Cao gradually disapprove of Xun Yu's strategy of serving the emperor and making him not a minister.

So far, apart from Zhong Yao in Guanzhong who can appease Guanzhong in the name of the emperor, all counties in Yuzhou can appease in the name of the emperor, and all ethnic groups in Jingzhou can also appease in the name of the emperor.

The remaining states and counties have almost no effect.

Guanzhong has long been deserted because of years of wars and natural disasters.

Whether there is an emperor in Yuzhou is controlled by Cao Cao, and he barely got the support of a Jingzhou gentry.

However, for the most prosperous three northern states, and the Qingxuyang three states under Liu Bei's control, the emperor's decree is useless.

Finally, Zhang Miao and Chen Gong were imprisoned, and they could attack Yanzhou. As a result, Liu Bei was also robbing Yanzhou.

Can Cao Cao prevent Liu Bei from robbing Yanzhou?
Can order, but Liu Bei may not listen!
Liu Bei is not a fool either. The situation in Nanzhou is already dominant. If he wins Yanzhou, he can directly take advantage of Cao Cao. How could he be so stupid as not to compete with Cao Cao for Yanzhou.

Is it because Cao Cao ordered in the name of the emperor?
Not to mention robbing Yanzhou, even if Cao Cao is beaten, Liu Xie may not support Cao Cao.

Facing the absolute power gap, obeying the emperor's order and not being a minister is just a fig leaf.

Liu Bei knew this, and so did Cao Cao.

In terms of closeness based on the current situation, Cao Cao is far inferior to Liu Bei, so how could Liu Xie favor Cao Cao because of this.

"Wen Ruo is not as ruthless as Feng Xiao after all."

Cao Cao's heart is like a mirror.

Xun Yu is talented, but Xun Yu's talent lies more in internal affairs and his unique insights into the general situation.

However, once Xun Yu is overwhelmed by his opponents in drawing the general trend, he will easily lose his direction.

The general situation is under control, even if the sky is full of geniuses, it is difficult to have a good plan.

Just like Wuhou's Northern Expedition, did Wuhou really not know that the Northern Expedition was difficult?

No, Marquis Wu knew that the general situation was under control. If he could not gain an advantage in the military battle, then the whole of Sichuan would be decadent and peaceful.

The same is true of Cao Cao's current predicament.

Xun Yu's painting of Feng Tianzi with the general trend of ordering and disobeying ministers was deployed several years in advance by Zheng Ping, who had the foresight, and directly smashed it with force and forcibly broke it.

No matter how clever your strategy is, if you can't control the general trend, you will fall into decline.

However, as far as Xun Yu is concerned, Xun Yu does not believe that his strategy has failed, so he lacks the fierceness and decisiveness like Guo Jia in decision-making.

Guo Jia is different.

Guo Jia is not good at big strategies, and he doesn't like to draw big strategies.

What Guo Jia prefers is military warfare. As long as military warfare is won, any strategy of the opponent will be useless.

No matter how Liu Bei plans Yanzhou, his goal is to get Yanzhou.

Now that we know the opponent's purpose and cannot gain a strategic advantage, we can directly use military warfare to solve the dilemma.

Use force to break cleverness, and everything will be beneficial.

Cao Cao frowned in thought.

It's not that Cao Cao has never thought about the way of military struggle, and because he thought about it, Cao Cao will be more cautious.

On the Xuzhou battlefield and the Huainan battlefield, Cao Cao was defeated by Zheng Ping one after another. Cao Cao did not have much confidence in military battles.

However, in today's situation, Cao Cao had to lean towards Guo Jia's military strategy.

If Liu Bei wins Yanzhou, Cao Cao will be no different from Liu Xie.

The left general Liu Bei led the victory in Yanzhou, and one step further would be one of the chariots, hussars, and generals.

Dong Cheng's chariot general is almost empty-handed, but if Liu Bei becomes a chariot general, it will be even more difficult for Cao Cao, Sikong, to restrain Liu Bei.

After a long time, Cao Cao had more determination in his heart.

"Wen Ruo, there is no need to argue anymore."

"I entrusted you with the preparation of money and food, and I decided to go to Yanzhou in person."

Cao Cao is not like Yuan Shao, he will be difficult to decide because of the disputes between counselors.

The reason why he asked Ce Xun Yu and Guo Jia was that Cao Cao actually already had a strategy in mind, but he just wanted to hear whether Xun Yu and Guo Jia had a strategy similar to his.

If both Xun Yu and Guo Jia opposed the strategy of military struggle, Cao Cao would weigh whether he was too impulsive.

But now, Guo Jia's strategy is very similar to what Cao Cao thinks in his heart, which makes Cao Cao more confident in what he thinks in his heart.

Xun Yu was about to persuade him again, but looking at Cao Cao's firm eyes, he swallowed back the words in his heart, and said: "If Duke Ming wants to go to Yanzhou in person, he can first send Liu Bei an imperial edict to let Liu Bei send troops to the Northern Expedition."

"Although Liu Bei may not obey the imperial edict, it must be righteous for Ming Gong to go to Yanzhou in person."

Guo Jia was noncommittal to Xun Yu's extravagant way.

At this time, when Liu Bei issued an edict to the Northern Expedition, Liu Bei could directly reject the reason of "the soldiers and horses do not move, and the food and grass go first", and he might even cry poorly to Cao Cao.

For example, "The Northern Expedition cost a lot of money and food, I implore the air conditioner to allocate money and food." If this is the case, will Cao Cao give money and food or not?
in the palace.

Knowing that Cao Cao was going to Yanzhou, Liu Xie's eyes were a little more worried.

Now Cao Cao no longer pretends to be a loyal minister, and acts more and more unscrupulously. He just informs Liu Xie of many major events.

For example, when sending troops to Yanzhou, Cao Cao just sent someone to inform Liu Xie, saying, "Zang Hong is seriously ill, and Yanzhou is an important place to resist Yuan Ni, so nothing can be lost." Then he sent troops.

Cao Cao didn't even want to come to see Liu Xie!

"Zongzheng, if you go back to Jingzhou, can you still order everyone in Jingzhou?" Liu Xie asked, looking at the new Zongzheng Liu Biao beside him.

Liu Biao shook his head helplessly: "I owe Your Majesty's love, and it is the Cai family and the Kuai family who rebelled against the minister this time."

"In the past, when I entered Jingzhou alone, I relied on people from these two clans, and because of this, people from the two clans became officials in important civil and military positions in Jingzhou."

"I did not hesitate to marry Cai Mao's widowed sister, and ordered Cong'er to marry Cai Mao's niece, just to delay time and give me time to cultivate trusted followers."

"It's a pity that the weather doesn't allow me."

"Cai Mao, a thief, will actually rebel against the minister."

"Cai Mao is here, and I will die when I return to Jingzhou."

Liu Xie couldn't help punching the table: "This group of thieves, hereditary Hanlu, are all selfish and unwilling to serve the country."

"One day when I really come to power, I will surely wipe out these thieves' homes to vent my anger!"

Liu Biao did not answer in silence.

Liu Biao could understand Liu Xie's anger, but Liu Biao secretly shook his head at Liu Xie's thoughts.

Still too naive!
Even Emperor Guangwu only dared to give preferential treatment to the family, but did not dare to uproot the family.

If the family is in chaos, the world will be in chaos.

If the family is stable, the world will be safe.

This is reality!
"Zongzheng, I want to issue a secret edict to the emperor to send troops to Yanzhou. It is best to keep Cao Cao in Yanzhou." Liu Xie's eyes flashed a murderous intent.

Originally, Liu Xie wanted to use Liu Bei to check and balance Cao Cao, but Cao Cao's move to seize Jingzhou made Liu Xie feel a crisis.

Liu Biao was in Jingzhou, which was also recognized by Liu Xie.

With Liu Biao, Liu Xie can use Liu Biao's power to balance Cao Cao and Liu Bei.

However, although Liu Xie learned the art of imperial balance, he couldn't really use it.

Seeing that Jingzhou has also become Cao Cao's power, Liu Xie panicked.

If you think about making Cao Cao and Liu Bei check and balance each other, Liu Xie is afraid that Cao Cao will become more and more powerful and eventually become like Dong Zhuo.

Liu Biao looked at Liu Xie in surprise, but soon the surprise disappeared.

"Your Majesty, don't worry, General Zuo is not a pedantic person."

"If you see Cao Cao dispatching troops to Yanzhou, General Zuo will not sit idly by."

"Instead of issuing a secret edict to General Zuo, it is better to take the opportunity to contact the loyal people in Xudu. If Cao Cao wins, he will take advantage of his great victory and neglect his guard, and arrange a banquet to kill him; if Cao Cao loses, he will take advantage of his situation. Set up a banquet to capture him."

The defeat in Jingzhou was not due to Liu Biao's incompetence, but to the fact that the Cai and Kuai families were too powerful. Once they betrayed, Liu Biao could only sit and wait for death.

In the past, Liu Biao dared to use the power of Cai Kuai and his family to trap and kill more than [-] sect thieves, and now he dared to use the power of Liu Xiehe and Gongqing to trap and kill Cao Cao.

Seeing Liu Biao's specific countermeasures, Liu Xie couldn't help being overjoyed: "Zongzheng's words are very much in line with my wishes. I have many spies of Cao Cao around me, and it is inconvenient to do things. Please trouble Zongzheng to contact loyal people for me."

"As long as I can help me regain power, Zong Zheng can be a Situ!"

Clenching his fists tightly, Liu Xie swore secretly: This time, he must take back the power, and I am the Son of Heaven!
Cao Cao decided to send troops in person, which surprised Cao Ang: "There is a child, why should father go to Yanzhou in person?"

Liu Biao's provocation still affected Cao Ang's heart.

The sentence "Cao Zixiu, you are worthy of being the son of Cao Sikong. You are treacherous, bold, and full of scheming. Among the famous sons, I am afraid that only the son of Duke Kang Cheng can surpass you." Cao Ang really felt a little uncomfortable.

When he was just a fledgling, he seemed to be invincible in the world. He surrendered Zhang Xiu, talked about Zhang Xian, and settled Jingzhou, which made Cao Ang a little flustered.

Therefore, Cao Ang gave up his original plan to continue to appease the Jingzhou gentry in the four counties of Jingnan, but returned to Xudu, and went to Yanzhou to help Lu Bu.

Cao Ang wanted to prove that Zheng Ping, who is also a famous son, only debuted a few years earlier.

Only Yuan Shao's eldest son, Yuan Tan, can really be regarded as an opponent by Cao Ang.

Therefore, as soon as he heard that Yuan Tan was going to fight Liaodong, Cao Ang was anxious to go south to settle Jingzhou.

The success of Ding Jingzhou also made Cao Ang overestimate his own ability, but ignored the prestige of Cao Cao and the emperor behind him, thinking that although there would be some twists and turns in going to Yanzhou, he would surely succeed.

Cao Cao knew Cao Ang's thoughts, and said in a concentrated voice: "Yanzhou is a very important matter, Ang'er must not be negligent, this time you and my father and son will go together, nothing will go wrong."

Seeing that Cao Cao was determined, Cao Ang could only sigh secretly.

If Cao Cao went there, he would not be able to compete with Zheng Ping.

Xingping two years, September.

Cao Cao personally supervised the army to Chenliu, and then stationed troops in Dongjun, Jiyin, and Shanyang counties. Liu Bei in Qingzhou also received the emperor's northern expedition order.

"This must be Uncle's plan!" Xun You saw through Xun Yu's plan at a glance, and said, "At this time of the Northern Expedition, Shijun must be in a stalemate with Yuan Ni and it is difficult to escape, and Cao Cao can take this opportunity to snatch Yanzhou and fortify it according to the Yellow River."

Liu Bei also knew the severity, and said: "But after all, it is the emperor's edict, if you don't follow the edict, wouldn't it be true?"

Xun You smiled lightly: "Although uncle understands the general situation, he is too pedantic. Since ancient times, the soldiers and horses have not moved, and the food and grass have gone first."

"The Northern Expedition cost a lot of money and food, so you can send someone back to Cao Cao, saying that there is a shortage of food in Qingzhou, and ask Cao Cao to transfer money and food to Taishan County."

Liu Bei was overjoyed when he heard the words: "It's okay to deal with the lack of money and food. But why did Gongda ask Cao Cao to allocate money and food to Taishan County?"

Xun You said with a smile: "Yuzhou does not border Qingzhou, and Cao Cao was asked to transport grain to Taishan County in order to give the envoy a reason to garrison Taishan County and cooperate with the obvious plan."

Liu Bei clapped his palms and laughed: "Gongda's words are very clever. Prefect Ying and Bei have a good friendship. If Bei wants to garrison troops, Prefect Ying will not object."

Ordering Sun Jian to guard against Yan Liang in Nanpi City, Liu Bei gathered soldiers from all battalions and secretly went to Taishan County.

When he arrived in Taishan County, Liu Bei found out that Cao Cao also sent troops to Chenliu, and at the same time divided his troops to station in Dongjun, Shanyang and Jiyin counties.

Although Cao and Liu both had their own reasons for the deployment of troops in name, they had actually figured out the other party's intentions clearly.

No matter how nicely it is said, it is all for grabbing Yanzhou.

Now there is only one reason, who will send troops first.

Shou Zhang City.

Zhang Fei said angrily, "Lü Bu is really lucky. If Cao Cao, that bastard, hadn't gone to Chenliu, I would have killed Lu Bu."

The urn had already been laid, but Lu Bu didn't come, and Zhang Fei's depression can be imagined.

Zheng Ping on the side didn't lose his composure in the slightest. He smiled lightly and shook his fan: "Why should Yide be angry? Lu Bu is only a dog, while Cao Cao is a tiger. It is a blessing to lose a dog and gain a tiger!"

Zhang Fei was taken aback for a moment, but then he was overjoyed: "The dog lost and the tiger gained? What do you mean, military commander, you want to kill Cao Cao?"

Zheng Ping didn't nod or shake his head: "One of the purposes of Yanzhou's deployment is to target Cao Cao. Now that Cao Cao has come to Yanzhou ahead of schedule, although some deployments will be ineffective, it won't have much impact on my overall deployment."

Zhang Fei laughed loudly: "I knew it was impossible for a military advisor to suffer. Originally, I just wanted to trap and kill a dog, but now I can trap and kill a tiger. It really is a pleasure!"

"Military division, I want to make a contribution, you can't favor the second brother!"

"Second brother is Xuzhou Mu, so it's useless to take the lead."

"I haven't made many military achievements yet. If I can't get the first merit, the military academy of Ruishiying will not be convinced."

Zheng Ping chuckled: "Didn't Yide say that he wanted to single out Lu Bu and capture Lu Bu alive? Give the credit to Yun Chang?"

Zhang Fei waved his hand, and said carelessly: "Capturing Lu Bu alive is not as satisfying as capturing Cao Cao alive? If Cao Cao is captured alive, my elite battalion is the veritable No. [-] Battalion of Qingzhou."

"As for Lu Bu, I will leave it to the second brother. The second brother often regrets not being able to kill Lu Bu. This time, it is as the second brother wishes."

"I have captured Cao Cao, so I must be able to become a Yanzhou shepherd, right?"

　Please ask for a monthly pass
　　
　
(End of this chapter)