Jianghuai is conducting large-scale military training, and Xuzhou is also recruiting soldiers and horses from various places. Naturally, Cao Cao cannot hide the large-scale military training.
"Lü Bu now has plenty of food and grass. If our army attacks, it may be difficult to win quickly." In Cao Cao's house, several important counselors entered Cao Cao's main hall. Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao and said.
"Liu Xuande asked several times to go to Jingzhou to assist Liu Biao in defeating Zhang Xiu, but I stopped him." Cao Cao nodded and said something that seemed insignificant.
Everyone was not surprised by this. Everyone could see that Liu Bei wanted to leave, but now the battle with Lu Bu was imminent. If it had been in the past, Liu Bei would have left as soon as he left, but now Lu Bu's foundation in Xuzhou is becoming more and more stable, without the gentry headed by the Chen family.
As an internal agent, if you want to eliminate Lu Bu, even if Cao Cao puts all his efforts, he may not be able to do it.
At this time, both the bravery of Guan and Zhang and Liu Bei's own influence in Xuzhou were related to the outcome of the battle between Cao and Lu.
It doesn't matter what his attitude towards Liu Bei was before, but now he really wants Liu Bei. Cao Cao now responds to almost every request of the three Liu Bei brothers, and uses every possible means to keep the three brothers for my use.
At least this battle needs to be fought before we talk about anything else.
"Lord, with the current situation, we can still join forces with Jiangdong!" Guo Jia looked at Cao Cao and said, "Liu Biao of Jingzhou will help us contain Zhang Xiu, but if he is allowed to use troops against Lu Bu again, even if Cai Mao and others agree, Liu Biao will
We will definitely not allow it, so if we want to completely defeat Lu Bu, we will need more foreign aid. We may not ask for frontal battlefield help, but we can at least bring oppression to Lu Bu!"
Xun Yu nodded and said with a smile: "Sun Quan and Lu Bu had a grudge against their brother. It is said that Jiangdong has been stabilized now, and Sun Quan is quite skillful. If Lu Bu fights with our army, he will be able to capture Jiujiang and Lujiang counties from the rear.
This will cause Lu Bu to lose his deep ground and become a lone army."
Jiangdong is the most likely force to take action against Lu Bu before the outcome of this war is clear. After all, the hatred between Jiangdong and Lu Bu may be greater than the hatred between Cao and Lu.
The relationship between Cao and Lu was more about their stances and the struggle of the world, but between Jiangdong and Lu Bu, it was completely a blood feud.
This is a good candidate for an ally, much more reliable than Liu Biao of Jingzhou.
Cao Cao nodded silently and said with some regret: "I didn't expect the Jiangdong Lion to die here. If the Lion doesn't die, he may not be able to compete with Lu Bu in the future!"
Sun Ce is not yet twenty years old. At this age, he has already shown great talents in strategy, martial arts, and military affairs. If Sun Ce is given some more time, when Sun Ce reaches Lu Bu's peak age, he may not really give it to Lu Bu.
It's a pity that Sun Ce met Lu Bu prematurely due to jealousy of talents. This made Cao Cao feel regretful and somewhat lucky.
As for Sun Quan, who succeeded Sun Ce, he had good abilities and skills, but in Cao Cao's eyes, he was far from comparable to Sun Ce. With Sun Ce here, Jiangdong would have many possibilities in the future, but with Sun Quan in charge of Jiangdong, Cao Cao could probably already see the future of Jiangdong.
"When I went to Jingzhou this time, I got a package of cultivation from Cai Mao!" Cheng Yu asked someone to bring a package of cultivation and handed it to Cao Cao.
"Farming?" Cao Cao looked at Cheng Yu in confusion, why did he suddenly come out with one?
Cheng Yu smiled and said: "My lord, you know that Xuzhou has had successive bumper harvests since last year. It can harvest food four times a year, almost once every two months!"
"Of course I know." Cao Cao nodded and sighed: "But we also secretly bought the Xuzhou farm at a high price. Although it can produce high yields, it will be unsustainable after at most two times."
Speaking of this, Cao Cao couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable. If he wanted to cultivate such good farming in large quantities, he would have to cooperate with Xuzhou for a long time. But it is said that this kind of seed was created by Lu Bu's son-in-law, the Chunan thief he hated most.
With that kid's temperament, it's probably impossible for him to trade this thing with himself.
Jingzhou can only get some of this kind of farming because of the trade relationship between the two sides.
"This time is different. As far as I know, the grain produced by these cultivations can maintain such a high yield effect." Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao and said with a smile: "These cultivations are exactly what Cai Mao's private fields produced. It is said that the effect
Same."
"If that's the case, we don't have to worry about food shortages." Xun You said with a smile.
"It's not that simple." Guo Jia took a sip of wine, narrowed his eyes and said, "This kind of farming requires huge amounts of land. The last time we were farming in Xuzhou, we only did it twice. Do you still remember the land we planted at that time?
That piece of land?"
Cao Cao nodded silently. He naturally remembered that after two harvests, the land had obviously lost its soil strength. The crops grown under ordinary farming in the second year were crooked and the growth was much lower than the crops grown on other farmland.
"I also asked about this matter. It is said that there is a secret place in Xuzhou, which is the earth dragon's cave. After being discovered by Chu Nan, he began to cultivate it. After the earth dragon grows up, it will enter the soil when it encounters it, and it can breed a large number of earthworms. These
Earthworms can fertilize the earth, and at the same time, the earth dragon can also increase the earth's power. Now Chu Nan seems to have a way to cultivate this earth dragon, but it needs to be purchased with minerals. Xuzhou seems to be smelting new soldiers, and only needs mineral deposits."
After saying that, Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao and smiled bitterly: "Then Cai Degui is willing to give up the earth dragon and farming, but..."
"What does he want?" Cao Cao knew that the other party could not help him for free, so he asked directly.
"When necessary, he needs the support of the court!" Cheng Yu looked at Cao Cao and said something incomprehensible.
Upon hearing this, Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and looked at Cheng Yu. After a long silence, he nodded and said, "Yes!"
"Lord, at this time Lu Bu suddenly released the cultivation and earth dragon..." Xun You looked at Cao Cao, his expression suddenly serious and said: "I suspect that the other party wanted to send this thing to us through Cai Mao, and what he did...
…”
Everyone fell into silence after hearing this. Lu Bu was recruiting troops now. He obviously knew that there would be a battle between them, but he got these things out at this time.
No one would believe that these things only exist now.
Obviously, Lu Bu wanted to use these things to delay Cao Cao's dispatch of troops and give Lu Bu more time to recruit and train new soldiers.
Cao Cao shook his head and smiled: "If that's the case, Fengxian is looking down on me!"
After saying that, he looked at Cheng Yu and said: "Leave this matter to Yuan Si to take care of things and see how to do it. I also want to see what is so magical about the earth dragon in the earth dragon cave!"
Although Cao Cao's current food production rate cannot keep up with Lu Bu's, he will not be short of food in a short time. Now Lu Bu is using this method to delay time, which just proves that Lu Bu has no confidence to fight with him now.
If we don't take action now, will we have to wait until Lu Bu's troops and horses are strong before taking action against him?
"My lord is wise!" Everyone also laughed. In fact, what they were most worried about was not that Cao Cao would be led astray by this plan, but that someone would persuade Cao Cao to give up his plan to conquer Lu Bu because of this small gain. Now Jingzhou has begun to contain Zhang Xiu, and Jiangdong
As long as the alliance is successful here, the blockade of Lu Bu will basically be achieved.
"Who is willing to go to Jiangdong?" Cao Cao laughed when he saw everyone looking like this. Jiangdong is the biggest helper in this battle, so naturally he needs to choose someone with weight to go.
"If nothing bothers you, I think it's best for Zhongde to go." Guo Jia took a sip of wine and said with a smile.
"Filial piety cannot always be lazy." Cheng Yu looked at Guo Jia speechlessly. Isn't this bullying an honest person?
"I have important matters to share with the Lord." Guo Jia laughed.
"Oh?" Cao Cao looked at Guo Jia in surprise. He had never heard that there was anything important.
When Cheng Yu saw Cao Cao's reaction, he knew that Guo Fengxiao was playing tricks again, and sneered: "Oh? But I don't know what the important thing Fengxiao said is?"
Guo Jia raised the wine pot and said, "Is going to Qingzhou an important matter?"
"Qingzhou?" Cheng Yu frowned upon hearing this: "We have tried to persuade Yuan Shao, but Yuan Shao is now on the verge of conquering Youzhou and refuses to return to the army. Moreover, if Yuan Shao is allowed to return to the army, he may not help me wait!"
Once Yuan Shao unifies the north, his next step will inevitably be to go south and invade the Central Plains. When the time comes for Cao Cao and Lu Bu to fight, Yuan Shao will definitely not let the two sides decide the outcome. There will be an overlord who unifies the Central Plains. If Lu Bu falls into the disadvantage.
, maybe Yuan Shao will directly send troops to attack Cao Cao's rear, first help Lu Bu destroy Cao Cao, and then follow the trend to destroy Lu Bu and swallow up the entire Central Plains.
"Yuan Shao won't, but Yuan Tan may not. At that time, we can lure him with benefits and lure Yuan Tan to take action, so that we can gain the upper hand against Yuan Shao in the future!" Guo Jia clenched his fist and said with a smile.
"Where did this opportunity come from?" Cheng Yu didn't understand the second half of the sentence. Why did Yuan Tan take action and they took the advantage?
"If Yuan Tan takes action, he can capture a county in Xuzhou. If our army takes advantage of the situation and takes action, we can capture the counties of Donglai, Beihai, Qi, and Jiyin. Is Zhong Dejue's plan clever?" Guo Jiaxiao asked.
If Yuan Tan takes action, he will definitely be able to seize one or two counties, but because of this, Qingzhou's troops will inevitably enter Xuzhou. When Lu Bu is destroyed, they will take the opportunity to capture Qingzhou. Yuan Tan will only be left with a lone army.
If Yuan Shao fails to defeat Gongsun Zan by then, he will be attacked from both sides. If he has captured it, Cao Cao will dominate the four states of Qingxu, Yanyu, and Yuan Shao, and he will be able to compete with Yuan Shao!
Moreover, with Qingzhou in Cao Cao's hands, Yuan Shao had no foothold in the Central Plains. All he had to do was hold on to the Yellow River crossing, and he could at least maintain a stalemate with Yuan Shao until winter, buying them more valuable time.
Guo Jia's series of strategies even started to plan how to fight Yuan Shao after Lu Bu's defeat. Cheng Yu thought for a moment and frowned: "Is it unwise to take the initiative to provoke Yuan Shao?"
"No, as time goes by, Vietnam will become its enemy!" Guo Jia shook his head and sighed. Once Yuan Shao captured Youzhou, his power would be great. With the influence of the Yuan family, the princes they have convinced now are really
When Yuan Shao was preparing to launch an army against the Central Plains, he was afraid that a group of people would turn against him. If he didn't take this opportunity to weaken Yuan Shao, would he have to wait for them to be ready to kill him?
"We'll discuss this matter later. Now let's get rid of Lu Bu first. Fengxiao will go to Qingzhou." Cao Cao made the decision to get rid of Lu Bu first. As for whether to take Qingzhou or not, it depends on the situation.