It was already dusk when Cao Cao returned to his residence.

As soon as he entered the house, Cao Shuo brought Jiang Gan to ask for a meeting.

Entering the room, Cao Shuo and Jiang Gan bowed.

"Did Zirong arrange someone to see if I came back in advance?" After letting them sit down, Cao Cao said, "I just entered the house, and you followed with your hind feet." ”

"I can't escape my father's eyes for anything." Cao Shuo smiled shyly: "I did arrange for General Deng to wait here." ”

Cao Shuo brought Jiang Gan over, Cao Cao understood that he must have gotten the news from Jiangdong, and asked Cao Shuo: "Is there any movement on the Jiangdong side?" ”

"Back to my father, that's exactly the case." Cao Shuo replied: "When Jiang Gong came back, my father was inspecting the army, and he couldn't find my father, so he went to me first. Or ask Jiang Gong to inform his father of what he saw and heard in Jiangdong. ”

"What did you see and hear?" Cao Cao asked Jiang Gan.

"I only saw Zhou Yu training the navy all day long in Jiangdong." Jiang Gan said: "Jiangdong is ready to fight against Cao Gong. ”

Cao Cao laughed: "Just Jiangdong also wants to fight me?" Could it be that they don't know how many soldiers and horses I brought with me when I led my army south this time? ”

"Of course they do." Jiang Gan replied: "There is one more thing I have to report to Cao Gong. ”

"Say." Cao Cao motioned for him to continue.

Jiang Gan said: "Liu Xuande sent Zhuge Kongming to Jiangdong as well, although I don't know what he said, but I think it must be extraordinary." ”

"Father." Cao Shuo interjected and said: "Zhuge Kongming went to Jiangdong in order to unite the Jiangdong Sun family to fight against our Cao family. ”

"What did Sun Quan say?" Cao Cao nodded and asked.

He didn't see Sun Quan at all, and of course Jiang Gan didn't know what to say.

Seeing that he hesitated and didn't speak, Cao Cao's brows furrowed slightly.

Jiang Gan didn't say anything, Cao Shuo helped him and said: "Jiang Gong went to Jiangdong this time, I ordered in advance, don't look at anything there, don't ask anything, leave everything to Pang Shiyuan to take care of." ”

"Pang Shiyuan hasn't come back yet?" Cao Cao asked.

"Not yet." Cao Shuo said: "But with his ability to do things, it shouldn't be long before news comes back." ”

"The army is stationed in Xiangyang, and it costs countless people every day." Cao Cao said: "We can't always spend ...... here"

"Father is right." Cao Shuo said: "However, to break through Jiangdong, we must consume it now. ”

"What are your plans?" Cao Cao asked, "How long will it take?" ”

"It's until we find a reason to crusade against the Jiangdong Sun family." Cao Shuo said: "Our army was not stationed on the Yangtze River, and the Sun family did not make any provocative moves, and it was not good for my father's reputation to attack rashly. Once a reason was found to attack, not only did the Sun family have nothing to say, but the people of the world would not say that his father raised an unrighteous army to attack the imperial court. ”

"What do you mean by an unrighteous soldier?" Cao Cao said: "I am the prime minister of the Han Dynasty, Your Majesty wants me to lead the army to attack the south, and I can fight all the southern forces......"

"Father is right." Cao Shuo said: "However, this reason is not very sufficient. ”

"What more reason do you want?" Cao Cao frowned and asked.

"I want a justifiable reason to crusade against Koto." Cao Shuo said: "Please also ask my father to be calm, the army will be stationed in Xiangyang for a few more days, and it will not be too late to send troops to cross the river after things are clear." ”

"You're holding your breath." Cao Cao said: "How should I cope with the daily consumption of grain and grass? Hundreds of thousands of troops all have to eat, and the more days they take, the more difficult it is to transport grain and grass to Jingzhou. ”

"Jingzhou is already my father's territory." Cao Shuo said: "While transporting grain and grass elsewhere, my father can also recruit grain and grass here. I will also have people transport grain and grass from Xuzhou and other places, so that I can hoard grain and grass before I turn against Jiangdong and prepare for the future war. ”

"That's it, whatever you say, it's your reason." Cao Cao first replied to Cao Shuo, and then waved his hand to Jiang Gan: "You go down first, this trip to Jiangdong is also a hard trip, after I discuss with Zirong, I will reward you." ”

Jiang Gan got up and retired.

When he left, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed.

obviously had the opportunity to peek at the letter sent to Zhou Yu from Jiangbei, but because Cao Shuo had explained it in advance, he couldn't read the content of the letter, so that a credit passed by.

Jiang Gan got up to leave, and after he walked out, Cao Shuo asked Cao Cao: "Dare to ask my father, how do you plan to reward Jiang Gan?" ”

"Give him some money." Cao Cao said: "He went to Jiangdong this time, but he didn't bring me any useful news. ”

"What else does Father want him to bring back?" Cao Shuo asked.

"At least investigate the Jiangdong deployment and come back to report." Cao Cao said: "Then I also have a reason to give him an official." ”

"Jiang has done Jiangdong and has done nothing, and the benefits are just more than what he has done." Cao Shuo said: "What kind of person is Zhou Yu? Others call Jiangdong Zhou Lang, no matter the wisdom and courage are above Jiang Gan. Could it be that his father still plans to let him get something out of Zhou Yu's mouth? ”

Stunned by Cao Shuo's question, Cao Cao asked, "Since you know that it is impossible for him to extract anything from Zhou Yu's mouth, why do you want him to go to Jiangdong?" ”

"Jiang Gan is loyal enough to his father." Cao Shuo said: "When he arrived in Jiangdong, Zhou Yu tried to buy it but failed. The friendship with Zhou Yu only shows that the Cao family has no plans to go south to Jiangdong. Although Zhou Yu will still make some preparations in advance, compared to before, the vigilance of the people in Jiangdong must be much lower, and once our army uses troops in Jiangdong, they will definitely be unable to guard against it. ”

"You said you wanted to find a better reason." Cao Cao said: "Why do you want Jiangdong to be defenseless? ”

"Find a better reason to attack suddenly, Jiangdong only has Zhou Yu some preparation in advance, and when they rush to the battle, won't our army's chances of victory be higher?" Cao Shuo asked Cao Cao.

"Then what reward do you think I should give Jiang?" Cao Cao asked.

"If my father is willing, it is better to let him go to my rule and become a county guard." Cao Shuo said: "There is a lack of officials under my rule, but there are not many idle posts under my father's rule. Attacking Jiangdong, the number of people my father wants to reward is countless, where can I give Jiang what benefits? ”

"Let someone go to Jiangdong, and you will poach him from me." Cao Cao said: "I'm still thinking, why did you suddenly change your temperament and be willing to transfer grain and grass to send here, but you still fell and didn't forget to grab a handful of mud." ”

"It's all good cultivated by my father!" Cao Shuo bowed and said, "If it weren't for my father's cultivation for many years, I wouldn't have thought about it so thoughtfully." ”

(End of chapter)