Nanyang, Wancheng.

Cao Cao sat on the throne a little tiredly, he was so old that he couldn't stand the fatigue of traveling.

"King Wei, why did you come here in person?" Cao Ren and Li Dian came in, saw Cao Cao, and couldn't help but say.

"How can I not come?" Cao Cao shook his head, this fighter grasped in a fleeting way, the last time Hanzhong and Xiangyang failed, Cao Cao gradually could no longer trust anyone's command ability, this time there was a contradiction between Sun and Liu, Liu Bei led the army south to attack, such an opportunity is even more difficult to grasp.

"Perhaps, this will be my last expedition, right?" Cao Cao did not question the ability of others, which was easier to cause a backlash in the hearts of the generals, but pretended to be pitiful, Cao Cao fought all his life, although he won or lost, but he won and lost as much as he did today, Cao Cao still has confidence in his military ability.

Cao Ren and other generals couldn't help but feel sour in their hearts when they heard this, Cao Ren bowed down and said: "The last general has the trust of King Wei, and the crime deserves death!" ”

"Alas~" Cao Cao waved his hand: "Zixiao doesn't have to be like this, victory and defeat are common things in soldiers, and don't you often lose battles?" It's just that Liu Da'er has been homeopathic all these years, and the momentum is flourishing, and we can't stop it! ”

When everyone heard this, their hearts were a little uncomfortable, if it weren't for Liu Bei's sudden rise to strength, even if the Battle of Chibi was defeated back then, Jingzhou would now be theirs, maybe Shuzhong also belonged to Cao Wei, how could there be so many troubles now?

It's just that the world is unpredictable, and there is nothing wrong in this world, the fact is that Liu Bei has risen, stepping on the shoulders of Cao Wei and Sun Wu to rise, and the current Liu Bei, who is also the land of Mujing and Yierzhou, is already a princely force that cannot be ignored in this world.

Therefore, when Cao Cao was old, he should have been recuperating, but he had to come to Nanyang in person to preside over the occupation, whether it was fate or luck, but in the final analysis, there were also reasons for the lack of ability of these generals.

Cao Cao looked at the official documents, now Cao Wei has expanded to the top, whether it is developing to the west or the south, Sun Quan and Liu Bei are not so easy to deal with, at least in Cao Cao's lifetime, it is difficult to make a breakthrough.

Standing at the pinnacle of power in this world, Cao Cao knows very well that if it is the apex of Cao Wei now, then next, if there is no achievement, the situation cannot be opened, once this apex passes, no matter how he goes, Cao Wei will begin to slide, he has some conquest and cannot move, maybe in a few years, this life will come to an end, so Cao Cao must consider for future generations, he needs to break this situation, so that Cao Wei has more potential to reach a higher apex, only in this way, Cao Wei can become the final victor among the three kingdoms.

Therefore, Cao Cao hoped that through this matter of sealing the king, he would provoke the fragile alliance between Sun and Liu, and the alliance between the two sides already had a rift, and the battle of Jingzhou expanded this rift, and this time the matter of sealing the king made this rift directly provoke Liu Bei's most vulnerable place.

Uncle Huang of the Han Dynasty, but he couldn't get the title of king of the Han Dynasty, but they called the king with different surnames, presumably Liu Da'er would be very anxious, right?

But what made Cao Cao a little puzzled was that with Liu Bei's calmness, it was impossible to go directly to Jiangdong because of this, so when he learned that Liu Bei sent troops to attack Wu, Cao Cao basically determined that this was a bureau, Liu Bei wanted to force Sun Quan and let Sun Quan send him to the throne!

As for sending troops, deterrence is the majority.

But so what? Cao Cao is confident that this deterrence will become a rift between the two families and expand into a grudge, and this deterrence will become a hatred between the two families.

Especially Lu Su, the glue between the Sun and Liu families, died at this time, although Cao Cao sent people to mourn, but his heart was very happy, God help me!

Between Sun Quan and Liu Bei, Cao Cao chose to support Sun Quan and destroy Liu Bei first, Sun Quan's ability is indeed good, and he is a good prince, but in Cao Cao's view, Sun Quan's threat is far less than Liu Bei's, perhaps it is related to his background, Cao Cao himself is also self-made, so he understands that Liu Bei, who is also self-made, has wolf-like aggression in their bones.

Don't look at Liu Bei also looks like a good man many times, but when he really needs to make a decision, Liu Bei has the courage and determination that a hegemon should have, which Sun Quan can't learn in his life, or rather, this kind of thing, you can't learn it by learning, without him and Liu Bei's experience of climbing against all odds, it will be difficult to experience that feeling for the rest of your life.

Seeing that the generals were not in a high mood, Cao Cao smiled and said: "Zixiao, tell me about Xiangyang, I heard that Liu Yi is rebuilding Xiangyang?" ”

"Not bad!" Cao Ren nodded bitterly and said, "The last general and Man Cheng tried to destroy, but Liu Yi built three acropolises around Xiangyang in advance, and Fancheng was the horn of each other, and several attacks were unsuccessful. ”

"Liu Yi is this person...... It's a pity. "Cao Cao is a little regretful that he couldn't bring Liu Yi under his command, if such a person can join Cao Cao's command, even if the Battle of Chibi was defeated that year, it will be of great help to Cao Wei, but what's the use of thinking about this matter now? Cao Hong, Xiahou Yuan, including the earlier Le Jin and the captured Yu Ban, Liu Yi and Cao Wei's personal feud has been very large, even if Cao Cao is willing to ignore the past suspicions, but Liu Yi is now in a high position under Liu Bei, why should he help Cao Cao?

Cao Ren's face was a little strange when he heard this, and he didn't say anything in the end, then again, who knew that the little craftsman back then would have today's achievements, Cao Ren now regrets that he didn't kill that bastard with a knife at that time, so that the other party can now help Liu Bei become such a big cause.

Li Dian bowed and said: "Although the city of Xiangyang has not yet been built, the city wall has been established, and it is not easy for our army to attack it again. ”

"It's good to build, just think he's building a city for our army." When Cao Cao heard this, he didn't care, this time he personally came to Nanyang to supervise the battle, in order to take this opportunity to swallow the land of the three counties of Jingbei in one bite, and completely discount Liu Bei's roots, as long as Liu Bei was driven into Shuzhong, Liu Bei's great ambition was not able to be realized, as for the land of Jingnan would be obtained by Sun Quan, Cao Cao did not care.

The rice has to be eaten in one bite, Jing Nan fell into the hands of Sun Quan, and the threat was much lighter than in Liu Bei's hands, since he couldn't defeat the two families in one go, then divide the two first.

"Don't talk about that." Cao Cao knocked on the table and looked at the group of civil and martial arts: "What do you think of the contradiction between Sun and Liu this time?" ”

Cheng Yu walked out tremblingly, saluted Cao Cao, bowed and said: "King Wei, the minister thinks that although Liu Bei is powerful this time, he has been quite polite between the two sides so far. ”

Cao Cao nodded, Cheng Yu has been with him for many years, many times, the two of them have similar ideas, looking at others, this time going south, Cao Cao not only brought Cheng Yu, Zhong Xuan such old ministers, among the younger generation, Yang Xiu, Sima Yi and other junjie were also taken with him, in order to see if this young generation has the ability to assist the new king after he leaves.

Sima Yi's sense of presence in the tent is very weak, if you don't look for it carefully, it will be difficult to find, but it is Yang Xiu, who gives people the feeling that he is sharp and dazzling.

These two people, Cao Cao actually prefers Yang Xiu more, Sima Yi gives Cao Cao the feeling, the city is too deep, everything is hidden in his heart, this kind of person, in fact, is the most difficult to control, but Yang Xiu, quite talented, but always feel that the direction of this talent is crooked, all put on a lot of useless speculation, opportunistic and opportunistic trails, like a courtier, Cao Cao wants to take this opportunity to correct Yang Xiu.

"King Wei, this matter is not difficult!" Without waiting for Zhong Xuan to express his opinion, Yang Xiu stood up and said with a smile: "Just let that Sun Quan know that the King of Wei is coming, presumably that Sun Quan will have a lot less to care about, then Liu Bei will be attacked on both sides, and the doppelganger will be weak, and even the King of Wei can let people create some chaos in Shu, why worry about Liu Bei being undefeated?" ”

Cao Cao smiled and nodded: "What Dezu said is good. ”

Although he said so, he was still a little disappointed in Yang Xiu in his heart, what he saw was too superficial, and in the current situation, Sun Quan might not really start a war with Liu Bei, especially when Liu Bei himself did not have this idea, it was unlikely that Sun Quan would take the initiative.

Sun Quan is not a fool, in this situation, if Liu Bei is really driven into Shu, only the Jiangdong family is left, can they fight Cao Cao?

"Zhongda, what do you think?" Cao Cao looked at Sima Yi and smiled.

When Sima Yi heard this, he hesitated for a moment, bowed down and said: "Prestige, what Brother Dezu said is certainly good, but the minister is worried, will Sun Quan start a war with Liu Bei when our army is approaching?" ”

If Cao Cao really pulled himself up with great fanfare, I'm afraid Sun Quan's first reaction was not to fight with Liu Bei, but to join forces with Liu Bei, right?

Just like the original Battle of Chibi, don't look at Sun Quan's desire to get Jingzhou, but if Cao's army goes south at this time, Sun Quan's first reaction is to protect himself instead of seizing land!

Cao Cao nodded, in terms of literary talent and administrative ability, Sima Yi is inferior to Yang Xiu, but in this strategy and overall situation, Yang Xiu is too inferior to Sima Yi, even if neither of them has any experience in battle.

Cao Cao's face didn't have too many expressions, these two people had their own strengths, but the same shortcomings were also obvious, one was sharp and too confident, and the other was really steady and a little scared, which reminded Cao Cao of his young self.

Squinting his eyes and thinking for a while, Cao Cao waved his hand and said: "I've been running around for days, and you're all tired, let's go down and rest first, and then discuss this matter, but don't spread the news of the lonely arrival." ”

Yang Xiu glanced at Sima Yi strangely, which was undoubtedly equivalent to approving Sima Yi's words.

"Whoa!" All the civil and military officers bowed and began to retreat one after another, each going to prepare, in short, Cao Cao's personal visit to Nanyang this time was not made public for the time being.