Cao Hong came to the mansion, only walked less than three or five steps, and then a door stopped him, and after indicating his intention, the little servant entered the court, and soon came back with the news that the envoy asked him to come to see him.

Liu An greeted him at the moment before being taken to the council hall by the little servant, and said with a smile: "Cao Duyou, the envoy is waiting in the house." ”

Cao Hong didn't dare to slack off, and said with a smile: "Thank you Shaofu Shi for passing the word." "This post of Shaofu Shi can be in charge of food, clothing, housing and transportation in the state pastor's mansion, and he is Liu Lan's real confidant, how dare he be lazy, and secretly stuff a palm-sized piece of yellow gold into his hand, and whispered: "I don't know how the envoy feels?" ”

"Hey." Liu An didn't dare to pick it up, it's not that he doesn't love money, it's really Liu Lan's royal majesty is very strict, if he accepts his gold and is known by the envoy, it is estimated that he will be driven out of the state pastor's mansion that day, and while pushing back the gold, he admonished, and said: "Cao Duyou's kindness is in my heart, but I can't accept this gold, and I have to remind Cao Duyou that you are really not the right time to come today." ”

"Why?" Cao Hong was shocked, especially Liu An's failure to accept the gold he gave him made his heart sink to the bottom, it seemed that things were worse than imagined.

"Hey." Liu An sighed and said: "Just now, Kong Beihai sent an envoy to say that Yuan Shao had invaded Qingzhou, and now the situation is critical, even Tian Qingzhou has been surrounded in Linzi, and I am afraid that the city will be broken soon." ”

"What?" Although he didn't hear any news unfavorable to him, Cao Hong also didn't expect that the situation in Qingzhou had reached such a critical point, and asked, "In this way, Kong Beihai came to ask for help?" ”

"Exactly." Liu An looked around, then said no more, and said, "Cao Duyou." Let's go and meet you. After speaking, he told again, "You must be careful when you go in." The head of the family is in a very good mood. ”

"Thank you Manager Liu for the reminder." Cao Hong said gratefully, but in his heart, he thought that Liu Yuanjun attacked Guangling to prepare for more than a month. Seeing that he was about to send troops, Kong Beihai asked for help, and I don't know what Liu Yuanjun's plan was? ”

Thinking about Liu Lan's thoughts, the situation of Qingzhou seems to be critical but has no impact on Xuzhou, but Guangling is more important to the current Xuzhou, he thought here, although he had a trace of thought in his heart, but he felt that there was something strange. In vain, he was shocked in his heart, and secretly said that something was wrong, all this was weird, if Liu Lan really wanted to attack Guangling, then what was the matter of Cao Bao? In order to attack Guangling, with Liu Lan's current strength in Xuzhou, he must first step up the encirclement of the Danyang army, but at this juncture, why did the news suddenly come out that Liu Lan wanted to deal with Cao Bao's henchmen, which itself is full of suspicion. ”

Thinking about this, my mind seems to be the most sophisticated instrument starting to work. Suddenly, it was like finding the rope head in ten thousand hemp ropes, and finally let him sort out his clue, it seemed that the attack on Guangling was just a pretense. Liu Lan first had to deal with the Danyang army in Xuzhou, and then he would attack Guangling or rescue Qingzhou, as long as the trouble of the Danyang army was not eliminated for a day. He's not going to take it lightly.

Cao Hong had a plan in his heart, and Liu Lan finally chose to make a decision. If it was the doctors in Xuzhou, naturally he would not take him to heart because of his reckless performance. But for Cao Hong, who appeared in Cao Bao's henchman, it was very critical, and he might even lose his life at any time, so he quickened his pace and followed Liu An to the door of the conference hall, only to hear him shout quietly outside the door, saying: "Lord, Cao Hong is here." ”

In a moment, a rough male voice came from inside, saying, "Let him in." ”

In the council hall, Liu Lan was thinking about whether to rescue Qingzhou, he originally wanted to completely solve the Danyang army and then send troops to attack Guangling, but Kong Beihai's request for help completely disrupted all his deployments. There was some hesitation in his heart, if he didn't move the Danyang Army at this time, he would send troops to rescue Qingzhou, but how many people should he send, if he sent less, it would be impossible to send more, and it would be difficult to control the Danyang Army if he sent more.

Frowning, he paced back and forth in the room. Guangling is of great significance to Xuzhou today, not only the population, but more importantly the tax, and recently from Yan, Henan two states to the news, the Central Plains outbreak in the past ten years of the most serious locust plague, the disaster is serious, I am afraid that it will soon enter Xuzhou, and he is currently in charge of several counties in Xuzhou because of Cao Cao's military disaster has already broken the muscles and bones, even if Tao Qian left a lot of money and grain during his lifetime, but such a big gap is difficult to last until the spring of next year.

"What should I do?" Liu Lan frequently asked himself this question in his heart, did he abandon Qingzhou? Still is......

At this moment, I only heard Liu An's shout from outside the house: "Lord, Cao Hong is here." ”

"Why did he come to see him at this time?" Liu Lan's face was already ugly, and his face immediately became gloomy, he didn't have a good impression of Cao Hong, after all, this person was a traitorous minister, but he had just entered Xuzhou, and he had to see it, and said in a deep voice: "Let him come in." ”

Liu Lan calmed down, returned to the main seat and sat down, but at the same time, his face was no longer anxious, and he had changed into a comfortable appearance, and his worries had been deliberately thrown aside by him.

Soon Cao Hong stepped in, bowed his hand, and said, "Cao Hong has seen the envoy." ”

"I don't know what happened when the son came?" Liu Lan stretched out his hand and asked with a smile.

"Zishi has heard some rumors recently." Saying that, Cao Hong knelt on the ground in a panic, and said: "Although Hong is a disciple of the Cao family, he has nothing to do with Cao Leopard. ”

"You're here for this?"

Liu Lan's face suddenly became much colder, others didn't know him Cao Hong, how could he not know, although he didn't know this person in his previous life, but since he went to Cao Bao's mansion a month ago, he deliberately investigated this person, so he knew very well about him, he already knew that this person in front of him was a treacherous and flattering person, just this Liu Lan would not allow such a person to exist around him, not to mention that he was still a branch of the Cao family.

Cao Hong immediately became worried, but he knew that his future was only in today's fight, he wanted to show loyalty to Liu Lan first, but seeing that he could not tolerate himself to say more useless words, he secretly wiped the cold sweat on his forehead, and said anxiously: "A relative and friend of Hong brought an important piece of news today, so Zishi came here for this matter." ”

Liu Lan seemed to be smiling, very impatient, and said, "Important news? But his eyes looked at him coldly. Said: "You tell me first, if it's some small things." Stand down. ”

"Today, the relatives of the soldiers came from Qingzhou, and said that Yuan Benchu of Jizhou had committed Qingzhou."

Cao Hong looked up at Liu Lan. The scorching gaze happened to collide with him in the air in an instant, he did not dodge, but froze in the air with him, and said slowly for a long time without hurrying: "Zishi knows that Jun Su is friendly with Tian Qingzhou and Kong Beihai, so he will naturally not ignore them, so he has come to persuade the lord not to send troops easily." ”

"Oh?" Liu Lan sighed lightly and looked at Cao Hong in surprise, although the person in front of him said that he was in his heart, but he didn't dare to show it. Instead, he snorted coldly, with a slight tone of reprimand, and said, "Bold, do you want to be unrighteous to me!" ”

Cao Hong was shocked in his heart, and his legs were even more swinging, afraid that a bad one would be taken by Liu Lan to take advantage of this, standing tremblingly, countless thoughts turned in his heart, could it be that I would be wrong? Liu Lan wants to save Qingzhou first. Instead, you want to postpone dealing with the Danyang Army? Thinking about this, I can't help but cry out in my heart, but when I say it, it is like water. It is extremely difficult to take it back, and if it is not good, it will be even more difficult to see Liu Lan.

While thinking about this, he saw that Liu Lan's face had become more and more ugly, and sighed secretly. That's it, that's it. At this point, he will not be dragged down by that Cao Pifu to death, but I am afraid that Liu Deran will not tolerate himself. Even so, if you make a gamble in the end, if you can persuade him to change his mind, he may not be able to turn the tide and change the situation.

There was a short silence in the meeting hall, and for a long time I only heard Cao Hong say: "Let you not be reckless, now Xuzhou is in the midst of internal and external troubles, so that you should stabilize the situation in Xuzhou first, and then you can expand to the surroundings, like now, even the foundation is not stable to rescue Qingzhou, this is self-severing, so that you have to be cautious!" ”

Cao Hong lowered his head and finished speaking, seeing that Liu Lan did not speak for a long time, he was inevitably suspicious, and secretly looked up at Liu Lan, but saw that he didn't know when he walked to the side of the council hall in front of the Xuzhou mountains and rivers to take a closer look.

It seems that Liu Lan's words just now have moved him, but behind his silence makes Cao Hong even more worried, he knows that Liu Lan's actions at this time are giving himself one last chance, if he can't say what he said before, it will be misinterpreted as he is alarmist, maybe when he looks back, he will really be finished.

Of course, Cao Hong will not want to see this happen, first of all, Liu Lan is not stupid, he knows the situation in Xuzhou better than anyone else, but his previous words gave him his own intention to take the exam, if he answered satisfactorily, then he will inevitably keep himself, if he can't answer, then it will be difficult for him to be reused.

After thinking about all this, Cao Hong said embarrassedly: "Now Xuzhou is worried about internal and external troubles, not to mention external troubles, that is, there are two internal troubles. ”

"Why do I think there are three?" Liu Lan suddenly turned around and looked at Cao Hongdao with a smile.

"Three?" Cao Hong was slightly stunned, and his mind was running even faster, three? What's the extra one? Could it be that you mean clans? He seemed to have guessed Liu Lan's thoughts, and was about to speak, but he felt that something was wrong, with his status in Liu Lan's mind, he really wanted to deal with the Xuzhou clan, and he would not say it to himself, after all, I am not his confidant, even if it is his heart, I am afraid that he will not reveal such an important thing casually. What's more, everyone in this world knows the scourge of the clan, but no one has ever touched the interests of the clan, but has tried their best to defend it, Liu Lan has to be the Xuzhou clan to be able to successfully enter Xuzhou, this is the time to wantonly envelop the clan, how can he do the opposite?

And whether Liu Lan suppressed the clan or maintained the clan he didn't know, if he was right, with Liu Lan's situation at this time, it was inevitable that he would behead himself to envelop the heart of the clan, if he didn't say it right, I was afraid that he would really die. While secretly rejoicing in his heart, he changed his words and said, "Zishi has never heard of it. He could only pretend not to know: "Xuzhou has two disasters, one is the Lang evil Zangba, and the other is the Danyang army." After a pause, he said: "Zang Ba, it seems difficult to get rid of, but it is very easy to control, so that you only need a person who can speak, you can deal with it." ”

"Oh?" Liu Lan looked at Cao Hong with satisfaction, but his eyes became extremely sharp, staring at him and said: "If there is really a person who can speak can solve it, then Zang Ba has already thrown himself under my account, how can he still be stationed in Kaiyang?" ”

"My lord." Cao Hong said carefully: "At this time and that time, at the beginning, the lord was just the head of Xiaopei, and he had the name of Yuzhou herd, but now he is the real shepherd of Xuzhou. ”

Liu Lan's eyes lit up, and he secretly said that this Cao Hong is also unique, this subtle difference was not even noticed by himself, but he didn't want to be pointed out by him, he really woke up the person in the dream with a word, and he still had a headache How to deal with Zang Ba. looked at Cao Hong without moving, waved his hand, and said, "You go on." Sure enough, in response to the old saying, the ancient traitors must have great talents.

"The second trouble is the Danyang Army." Cao Hong said this, but his eyes lit up, and he secretly said that the three troubles in Liu Lan's mouth will not be different from my two troubles here, right? ”

Thinking about this, he said with a smile: "Now that the Danyang Army is divided into two, if the envoy Jun regards the second and third disasters as Cao Bao and Zhenrong, then they can be regarded as a disaster at this time, after all, they are all Danyang Army." ”

The three troubles in Liu Lan's mouth are actually the same as the two troubles in Cao Hong's mouth, and he admires him in his heart, and says with his forehead: "Even if they are both Danyang Army, why do you want to merge the two of them into one?" ”

"Cao Bao is just an urgent need for moss, and the lord is just killing him now, and the person he is worried about is only his henchman Danyang Army."

Precisely. Liu Lan praised in his heart, but looked at him with a burning face, and said: "When Tao Gong was here, these Danyang troops only knew Cao Bao, but not Tao Yuanjun, so these Danyang soldiers were the most headache for me." ”

"Therefore, the envoy must first solve the two troubles of the Danyang Army and Zang Ba before he can send troops to aid Qingzhou."

"I know that, but there's one more important thing that you don't know."

Liu Lan didn't know why, and patiently explained to Cao Hong: "Do you know that your lips are dead and your teeth are cold? If Yuan Shao succeeds in taking Qingzhou, although he will not move Xuzhou for the time being, as long as he solves Youzhou, then Xuzhou will be one of his next targets. Even if you don't talk about Yuan Shao, it is Cao Cao and Lu Bu of Yanzhou, no matter who of the two of them can take charge of Yanzhou in the end, they will naturally invade Xuzhou at that time, and how can they resist it with the power of Xuzhou? At that time, it was necessary to rely on the soldiers of Qingzhou. After he finished speaking in one breath, his mouth was already a little dry, and after taking a sip of tea, he said: "It was the grace of Cao Mengde's soldiers who committed Xuzhou, Tian Qingzhou and Kong Beihai to rescue him that day, and I Xuzhou can't be ungrateful!" (To be continued.) )