Cao Cao pondered for a long time and nodded slightly: "That means we still have half a year to prepare."
"Half a year is not a short time, but it is not a long time." Cheng Yu on the side said: "As for Yuan Shao's invasion, which route he will choose depends on how he views the lord."
"how do I say this?"
"Yuan Shaoruo regarded his lord as a formidable enemy, so he would plan for it slowly and steadily, moving from north to south, conquering Yanzhou first, occupying Dongjun, Chenliu and other places one by one, and then marching westward, approaching Yingchuan
."
Cheng Yu said: "If you think highly of yourself and are arrogant and underestimate the enemy, you will choose to fight quickly and complete your victory in one battle. Then you will probably send troops directly from Yecheng, cross Hanoi and go down to Henan, bypass Chenliu, and approach Xudu!"
At this time, Sima Yi had already laid out the map at Cao Cao's instruction. When Cheng Yu spoke, Cao Cao was using his pen to draw the maps on several tables. Hearing this, he smiled mockingly:
"Brother Benchu, why did you ever take me seriously? You just take it for granted that once you mobilize your troops, you can capture me easily!"
"If we go by what Zhongde said, he should choose the second route."
"In that case, I dare to advise you." Cheng Yu bowed slightly, "My lord, you should do two things as soon as possible."
"Cao Cao looked sideways at Cheng Yu: "What two things?"
"First, take Hanoi County into your pocket first."
"Zhang Yangsu, the prefect of Hanoi, was at odds with his lord. When Lu Bu attacked Yanzhou, he led his army to Dongshi, and was at arm's length with Lu Bu. If Yuan Shao invaded, Zhang Yang would follow him. If he didn't solve it in advance,
, must be a hidden danger!”
"It makes sense."
Cao Cao slapped the table and shouted: "I have long disliked this guy. A person with no virtue and incompetence dares to steal the position of Sima with a little merit. The ancients said that if virtue is not matched, there will be disaster. This is the right time.
today!"
"As for the second thing, it is to form strong support from outside."
Cheng Yu said: "Yuan Shao's attack on Gongsun Zan this time has raised 80,000 infantry and 10,000 cavalry. If he comes to attack our lord in the future, the number will probably be much greater. If we cannot borrow external forces, we will rely on our own strength."
If we go to defend ourselves against the enemy, we may be unable to do so."
"Well"
Cao Cao was naturally very clear about his own strength. He was silent for a while and then asked, "But where does Zhongde think I should go to ask for help?"
Cheng Yu gently stroked the long beard under his lips, squinted his eyes slightly, pointed to the northwest corner of the map and said: "Of course it's here!"
"Liangzhou?"
Cao Cao was startled when he heard this, but he immediately reacted and blurted out: "Han Sui?"
"It's General Zhenxi."
Han Sui, courtesy name Wenyue, was a native of Jincheng County, Liangzhou. Speaking of which, his life was actually quite legendary.
He was originally engaged in Liangzhou. In the first year of Zhongping (184), the Qiang Beigong Boyu rebelled and invaded the border area. Han Sui was defeated and captured.
This is nothing at first. What's so strange about being a prisoner?
But the problem is that no one knows (because there is no record in the history books). Han Sui, a prisoner, changed his identity within a few years and became the leader of the Qiang people.
The counterattack from a prisoner to a master is truly incredible.
It was also from this time that Han Sui's name began to really become famous.
In the second year of Zhongping (185), Han Sui and Bian Zhang led tens of thousands of cavalry to invade Sanfu and invaded Yuanling under the pretext of killing the eunuchs. The imperial capital was immediately in panic. Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty hurriedly sent the left chariot general Huangfu Song.
Jizhonglang conquered Dong Zhuo, but the result not only failed to quell the rebellion, but further expanded the strength of Han Sui and others to a hundred thousand soldiers, which shocked the world.
In the fourth year of Zhongping (187), Han Sui launched a mutiny and killed several other Qiang leaders, including Bian Zhang, Li Wenhou and Beigong Boyu. He officially became the only leader of the Qiang people and set off another uprising.
They rebelled and marched to surround Longxi. Fufeng men and Ma Teng also responded at the same time. The two joined forces to attack Sanfu with great momentum.
Later, for unknown reasons, Han Sui and Ma Teng suddenly fell out (later analysis shows that it was most likely that Han Sui wanted to have another internal fight to annex Ma Teng's tribe, but failed.) and then attacked each other, so their power gradually weakened, until
In the third year of Chuping's reign, the two men led their troops to return to the imperial court. Han Sui was appointed General of Zhenxi and sent back to Liangzhou. Ma Teng was appointed General of Zhengxi and stationed in Yi.
In the first year of Xingping, Ma Teng came to court from Liangzhou and made some kind of personal request to Li Jue. As a result, Li Jue did not agree. Ma Teng was furious and immediately sent troops to attack Chang'an after returning to his station.
When Han Sui heard the news, he was quite generous. At the critical moment, he repaid evil with kindness, saying that everyone was from Liangzhou and should be united in dealing with the outside world, and immediately led troops to help Ma Teng.
Although he was defeated in the end, Ma Teng was very grateful. Not only did the two restore their former friendly relationship, they even became brothers with different surnames.
From this year onwards, Han Sui officially became the emperor of Liangzhou. Although Ma Teng was always ranked ahead of Han Sui in the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, at this time, regardless of military power, or even qualifications and reputation, Han Sui was the real leader.
Big brother.
If there is anything inferior to Ma Teng, I'm afraid there is no one who will be famous as a "good son" in the future.
"Han Sui does have some troops, and if he is willing to send troops to help, Ma Teng probably won't stand idly by, but..."
At this point, Cao Cao paused and asked in a deep voice: "I don't have much friendship with Han Sui, how can I persuade this person?"
“If you can’t move someone with emotion, why not lure someone with benefits?”
Cheng Yu smiled slightly, "Besides, my lord and Han Sui have no contact, so what does it matter?"
"You can just find a friend of Han Sui to make peace with you."
"That's a good idea."
Cao Cao thought for a moment, then an idea flashed in his mind, "Could it be that the middleman you are referring to is Wei Duan?"
Wei Duan, also known as Xiu Fu, was the Liangzhou Shepherd who was personally granted the title by the imperial court, and everyone could see that Wei Duan must have been approved by Han Sui and Ma Teng, otherwise he would never have been able to sit in this position for many years.
"Yes, in my opinion, my lord should send an envoy to Liangzhou to see Wei Duan as soon as possible."
After thinking for a moment, Cao Cao clapped his hands and laughed, "Wonderful."
Cheng Yu's analysis is quite reasonable. If Wei Duan can be persuaded first and then lured to his advantage, it is indeed very possible to invite Han Sui and Ma Teng to send troops.
However, it may not be easy to persuade Wei Duan, so the choice of this envoy is extremely crucial.
"Then who does Zhongde think he should be entrusted with?"
"As an envoy to a foreign country, his eloquence, courage, magnanimity, and image are all extraordinary."
Cheng Yu smiled and said: "But since I am going to see Wei Duan, in my opinion, the envoy still needs to meet an indispensable condition."
"oh?"
Cao Cao asked in surprise: "What other conditions are there?"
Before Cheng Yu could speak, Xun Yu on the side had already said: "My lord, Wei Duan is from Jingzhao Wei family, and he has always had his eyes set on his head. Duke Cheng means that it is best for this envoy to come from a noble family."
"Born from a noble family?"
Cao Cao frowned. The aristocratic family belongs to the gentry, but the gentry is not the same as the aristocratic family. Moreover, it is not the two Jin Dynasties in later generations. The benchmark for "aristocratic family" is not so clear, and everyone's standards are different.
For example, in Wang Zheng's eyes, the Lujiang Zhou family, Langya Wang family, etc. were considered first-class families, but in Xun Yu's eyes, they might not be qualified.
It was precisely because he knew that Xun Yu had high demands that Cao Cao had some difficulties. Now that he had just established his power, he had many talented people under his command, most of whom were from noble families. But if you really want to say that someone could be "from a noble family", it was actually not enough.
Not too much.
And most of these few who meet the conditions are not suitable to be messengers, such as Xun Yu.
Because Cao Cao is worried, this is his Xiao He!
Then who else besides Xun Yu?
Who else can not only be born in a noble family, but also have eloquence, courage, magnanimity, image and many other qualities?
After thinking for a long time, Cao Cao couldn't think of any suitable candidate. When he was frowning, Xun Yu suddenly said: "My lord, I would like to recommend someone who may be useful."
"who?"
"Yu Shi Zhongcheng Zhong Yao."
"Zhong Yao?"
Cao Cao had some impression of this name. In the third year of Chuping, Cao Cao sent an envoy to Chang'an for the first time after he became the pastor of Yanzhou. As a result, Li Jue and Guo Si suspected Cao Cao's intentions, so they discussed detaining the envoy and rejected his goodwill.
At the critical moment, it was Zhong Yao who came forward to persuade them and gave up the idea of the two of them. The contact between Cao Cao and the court and Emperor Xian was never severed, paving the way for his future service to the emperor.
Later, when Emperor Xian wanted to escape from Chang'an, it was Zhong Yao and Shangshu Lang Han Bin who jointly planned to allow Emperor Xian to return east successfully, so this man's talent and courage should be no problem.
As for his origin, Zhong Yao was born in the Zhong family among the four surnames of Yingchuan, "Ru Yingduo Qishi". Since the founding of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the influence of the Yingchuan gentry has been second to none, and the gentry who can stand out in Yingchuan is naturally
Undoubtedly the top quality gate valve.
Zhong Yao was indeed in full compliance with the conditions, but Cao Cao still hesitated because Zhong Yao was not nominally his vassal at this time, and he had not actually been his master. He asked with some uncertainty: "Wen Ruo, this
Can people be trusted?”
Seeing that Xun Yu smiled calmly and did not answer immediately, Cao Cao suddenly reacted, slapped his head suddenly, and stood up immediately: "This general is worrying too much."
As he spoke, he turned to Xun Yu and said in an extremely sincere tone: "The person recommended by Wen Ruo has both ability and political integrity and is worthy of great use! Let's make a decision and let Zhong Yao go as an envoy to Liangzhou."
Xun Yu still looked calm, but bowed slightly and said, "My lord, I'll see you soon."
Sima Yi took in all this scene and couldn't help but think deeply. He soon came to his senses and hurriedly lowered his head slightly to hide the twinkling in his eyes.
As a result, the next moment, Cao Cao happened to look for him.
"Zhongda, as Zhongde said just now, connecting Liangzhou on the outside and leveling the river on the inside are both top priorities. But in addition, I think there is another place that needs some action. Do you know where it is?"
Another place?
Sima Yi's heart moved, he looked up at Cao Cao, and said with a straight face: "The general said, could it be Nanyang?"
"Ha ha."
Cao Cao looked at Sima Yi with admiration in his eyes: "You are so smart and alert. You can guess what I am thinking, and you are also aware of the recent changes in this place. Let me tell you how much it will take to capture Nanyang."
Centaur? What are the chances of winning?"
"If you want to take Nanyang, you must first take Bowang. If Bowang falls, Nanyang will surrender without a fight."
Sima Yi pondered for a moment and said: "It's only a few hundred miles from Kunyang to Bowang. There are two counties in the middle, both of which are small cities. The only trouble is that there are several rivers blocking the way. If you can cover up the sound and quickly cross the river, you can take advantage of it."
Bowang does not need too many men and horses, ten thousand is enough. As long as the general uses his method properly, it can take as little as three days or as long as seven days to conquer this city!"
"If Bowang falls, Nanyang will surrender without a fight?" Cao Cao smiled and asked, "Why?"
"The current governor of Nanyang is Zhang Xiu, who was also from Liangzhou. The soldiers and horses under his command were originally owned by his uncle Zhang Ji. Zhang Ji attacked Nanyang because the army was short of food. As a result, he was killed by the Jingzhou army. Now he has a deep hatred.
Zhang Xiu did not take revenge, but instead turned to Liu Biao to act as a shield against foreign enemies for him, but why?"
Sima Yi said seriously: "Because it was freezing cold at that time, the army was short of food and clothing, and there was no other way out except surrendering to Liu Biao. This is called the situation and forced it, so Zhang Xiu's surrender this time may not be out of sincerity.
"To say the least, Zhang Xiu doesn't hate Liu Biao. Liu Biao regards himself as a celebrity, and Zhang Xiu's background is unlikely to gain his trust. The two monarchs and ministers are just inseparable in appearance. Once external forces appear, they will fall apart.
Therefore, I have the courage to take a bold look. If I can conquer Bowang, I only need to send one capable envoy to surrender Zhangxiu and make it available to the general. In this way, the rest of Nanyang's cities can be conquered without a fight."
After listening to Sima Yi's talk, Cao Cao was noncommittal, took out a map of Jingzhou and put it on the table, beckoning Sima Yi to come closer: "As you said, Bowang is the gateway to the east of Wancheng, and there must be heavy troops stationed there.
, Zhongda, please tell me how to conquer a city in seven days with 10,000 troops?"
"If you want to win the chance to win, there are two things you must be careful about."
"Which two places?"
"To the north of Bowang is Xi'e, which is the western gateway of Wancheng. Although the city is not big, at least thousands of soldiers and horses will be stationed, so it must be guarded. To the southeast of Bowang is Wuyin City, and the guard Cai Heng was born in the Cai family of Xiangyang.
, are relatives of Liu Biao, who stayed in Nanyang specifically to check and balance Zhang Xiu, and there must be many troops stationed there. If they see our army invading, they may rush to help."
"That's right." Cao Cao nodded, "In that case, how can you defend against three enemies? Moreover, the troops who followed Zhang Ji's uncle and nephew south last year were Bingzhou elite cavalry, which can be called the strongest troops in the world. They guarded Bowang and Xi'e.
There are at least five or six thousand troops in Bingzhou."
"With 10,000 troops, we have to fight hard for a strong city and strong troops, and we have to distract ourselves from guarding against two foreign enemies. How should we deal with this?"
"The Art of War says that since ancient times, attacking the heart has been the top priority, and attacking the city has been the bottom priority. In all battles, the most important thing is to achieve a perfect combination and achieve a surprise victory."
Sima Yi said confidently: "As a minister, if you want to gain popularity, you can only do it wisely. You can only fight quickly, but don't attack by force. It will not last long."
Cao Cao looked at Sima Yi with a half-smile, and continued to ask: "How to outwit him?"
"Of these 10,000 horses, two thousand should be separated first, bluffed, and placed in Wuyin." Sima Yi stepped forward and tapped Wuyin's position on the map, "to threaten Cai Heng."
"Zhang Xiu fought with the Jingzhou Army for several months last year, and now the surrender time is still short. Naturally, there is still a gap between the generals of the two armies. If there is no foreign invasion, Cai Heng may send troops to ask for help if Bowang is in a hurry. But if Wu
If Yin is threatened, he will return to the city immediately."
This was a good idea. Cao Cao nodded in approval and asked, "What about Xi'e?"