The fall of Xuchang is just the beginning, since Ye Zhao decided to do it, this time, there is no room for Cao Cao, Chen Liu, Runan plus Jizhou and now Xuchang, Cao Cao's territory can now be said to be completely surrounded by Ye Zhao, Cao Cao at this moment is unavoidable, and the Central Plains is also within reach of Ye Zhao.

At the beginning of the sixth year of Tai'an, the ice and snow have not melted, Ye Zhao sent troops, conquered Xuchang in less than three days, and completely occupied Yingchuan only two days later, Runan defender Zhang Ren led the army to the north, and took Chen Guo in less than five days, almost at the same time, Ji Ling left troops from Chen, directly attacked Taoqiu, and received Xu Rong to cross the river, in less than half a month, almost the entire territory of Yuzhou was broken by Ye Zhao, and Liang was completely surrounded by Ye Zhao.

At this time, Cao Cao, in addition to stubborn resistance, could only withdraw from the Liang State!

Suiyang, Imperial Palace.

"Sikong, why don't we retreat to Shanyang!" Liu Xie sat on the throne, looked at Cao Cao's face, and said with some trepidation.

No one expected that Cao Renhui would lose Xuchang without even holding it for three days, not only Xuchang was lost, but even his own life was tied to Xuchang.

The ministers looked at Cao Cao, and they were also panicked.

Not only because of the current situation, but also because of Cao Ren's death, they are worried that Cao Cao will not be able to think about it at this moment, and go to the hard bar with Ye Zhao, facing Ye Zhao now, not to mention Wenchen, even those generals are a little reluctant to fight in their hearts.

Cao Cao looked at the ministers, and suddenly laughed and said, "Your Majesty, the ministers also want to retreat, but now that Ye Zhao has captured Yuzhou, where can we retreat even if we retreat?" Today, as His Majesty said, we still have a place to retreat, but will Ye Zhao give up because of this? Even if we retreat to Shanyang and retreat to Taishan County, when Ye Zhao leads the army back, will we still have a way out? ”

Qingzhou has now been taken by Guo Jia, and even the land of Huaibei in Xuzhou, Sun Ce can't keep it, if he retreats, Cao Cao may have to take Liu Xie to Sun Ce.

When Liu Xie heard this, he was a little apprehensive and said, "Then according to the commonplace, what should I do?" ”

Although Cao Cao's side is not very smooth, but on Ye Zhao's side, it is estimated that it is even worse, his royal brother is now the emperor supported by Ye Zhao, if he is really captured by Ye Zhao and returned to Chang'an, then he must be a deposed emperor, and that day will definitely not be as good as now.

"Hit!" Cao Cao took a deep breath and said with a smile: "Your Majesty, rest assured, although the soldiers and horses in Guanzhong are strong, they are not invincible, the strong Qin soldiers were strong, the best in the world, but in the end it is difficult to escape the fate of defeat, now Ye Zhao's soldiers are strong, they may not be stronger than the strong Qin of the year, our army is weak, but it is the righteousness, the final winner will be the imperial court, please rest assured, your Majesty, the ministers should personally meet Ye Zhao." ”

At first glance, it seems to be so reasonable, but in fact, most people who know that period of history know that the reason why Qiang Qin perished was that he lost the hearts of the people, and the territory was full of smoke, no matter how powerful the Qin army was, in the case of fighting fires on all sides, it could only end up exhausting to death, and now Ye Zhao, not to mention in Yanzhou and Qingxu, but under the rule of Ye Zhao, it is the will of the people, and it can be unanimously outward, in the face of such a force, Cao Cao's battle, the chance of winning is really not much.

Cao Cao didn't know this truth, but others can be afraid and depressed, but as the actual pillar of the Suiyang court, Cao Cao can't show any frustration, even if Cao Ren's death does make his heart ache, but above this court, he still has to make a confident appearance.

Liu Xie also had no idea at the moment, although he had made a lot of stumbling blocks for Cao Cao before, but at this moment, he really hoped that Cao Cao could defeat Ye Zhao, he knew very well that he and Cao Cao were grasshoppers on a rope at this time, Cao Cao won, he would still be the emperor, if Cao Cao was defeated, he would arrive in Chang'an one day, and it would be good for him to be able to save his life.

Although it is said that this emperor is a bit of a wreck, but there is always some power, Liu Xie didn't want to pay homage to his imperial brother who had been abolished, and said warmly: "In this way, everything will be freed." ”

Cao Cao bowed, and then dispersed, Cao Cao took Xun Yu, Xun Yu, and Cheng Yu back to Sikong Mansion, as for Zhong Xuan, he was sent by Cao Cao to deal with trivial matters, since the defeat of Jizhou, Zhong Xuan had other thoughts, this, Cao Cao knew that although Zhong Xuan's ability was no worse than the other three strategists present, but it was precisely because of this that Cao Cao did not dare to let Zhong Xuan participate in the core priorities.

"Lord, the military situation is coming from the front line, the three cities of Chengfu, Shansang and Xinyang have surrendered without a fight, and now Zhang Ren's army has entered Qiao County, in addition, Ye Zhao's army has arrived in Dajian Township, our army has no danger to defend at the moment, and Ye Zhao's army is here at night!" After entering the Sikong Mansion and Cao Cao's study, Cheng Yu informed Cao Cao of the latest information, before in the court, he really didn't dare to say that the people's hearts had already begun to disperse, if those people knew that Ye Zhao's soldiers and horses had attacked outside the Liang Dynasty, I am afraid that the court would be chaotic today.

Cao Cao leaned back in his chair and said with a wry smile: "Xiu Ming this time, it seems that he can't wait!" ”

Xun Yu and the others were silent when they heard this, now Ye Zhao has a general trend, the elite of Cao's army has been lost, with Ye Zhao's decisiveness, he will definitely not give Cao Cao a chance to take a breather and fight with him again, this is a battle of unification, whether Ye Zhao or Cao Cao, they will not bring personal feelings into it, these two people are heroes, but it is a pity that they ...... Ye Zhao is not on the side of the scholars, otherwise, if Ye Zhao is willing to loosen his mouth and give the scholars more resources and space, there is no need to be the same as before, as long as there are more than now, I am afraid that the people who defect to Ye Zhao will multiply several times, and there will be no need to fight this battle.

Even now, the Zhong family has begun to secretly contact Ye Zhao's side, not to mention the Zhong family, in fact, Xun You and Xun Yu have secretly sent some outstanding children of the clan to Luoyang for the sake of the family, incognito, in order to be able to continue the family.

Cao Cao also knew this, but Cao Cao did not stop it, for Cao Cao, Xun Yu and Xun Yu were willing to accompany him at this time, which was already benevolent and righteous, and it would be unkind to let the family take the family together.

"I want to fight to the death with Ye Zhao, the princes have been with me for all these years, the benevolence and righteousness have been exhausted, if the princes also want to defect to Xiuming, Cao can write a letter of recommendation for the princes, don't look at me and Xiuming are now an endless situation, but Xiuming is a person, or read some affection, and with the talents of the princes, go to death with Cao, it's a pity." Cao Cao laughed.

"How can the lord say such a frustrating remark, how can he ...... if the winner is not scored" Cheng Yu's face changed, and he stood up and said.

Cao Cao waved his hand and signaled Cheng Yu not to speak, Cheng Yu was born in a poor family and had no family burden, so he could be willful, but Xun Yu's uncle and nephew were different, Cao Cao's words were also said to Xun Yu and the others.

"The winner and loser, in fact, have been divided as early as the time of Aocang." Cao Cao said with a smile: "Xiuming is now a general trend, Cao can't stop it, Sun Ce can't stop it, this general trend of the world, after all, it will be unified, it's unfortunate, it's a great luck in the world!" ”

"The lord treats me like a mountain, how can I abandon it at this time?" Xun Yu shook his head and said.

Cao Cao smiled and nodded, without saying much, Xun Yu would choose like this, although he was a little surprised, but it was also reasonable, and he turned his head to look at Xun Yu.

After hesitating for a moment, Xun You looked at Cao Cao: "Since the lord knows the general trend, why did he choose to fight Ye Hou?" ”

Cao Cao's eyes flashed with reminiscence: "I and Xiuming, acquaintance in Weimo, he was the prime minister of the Liang State, I was the captain of the cavalry, and we obeyed the orders of General Huangfu at that time, Xiuming at that time was quite restless, some words, it was inconvenient to say at the beginning, and now I might as well say it to you, when General Huangfu forced the imperial court to lift the party ban, he made several concessions to the Yellow Turban to force the first emperor, and Xiuming directly used a crossbow arrow against General Huangfu to ask him to change the military order. ”

Thinking of the scene at that time, Cao Cao still remembers it vividly, it was the first time he met Ye Zhao, and Xun Yu and Xun Yu had heard about it more or less.

"At that time, I just thought it was a hot-blooded boy, but now it seems that Xiuming probably had his own ideas at that time, he wanted to change the way of the world, so in the case of the tripartite competition between the generals, the party and the eunuchs, he quickly walked into the eyes of His Majesty, and later officially got acquainted in Luoyang, at that time there was also the original and highway, and Xiuming was in Luoyang back then, you must be clear, but there is one thing, you may not know."

Xun Yu and the three of them looked at Cao Cao curiously when they heard this, and it may be of great significance to be remembered by Cao Cao until now.

"When I was in the Tiger Prison, I asked Xiu Ming, since he knew my ability and had the opportunity to kill me, why did he never do it, but helped me several times?" Thinking of the conversation at that time, Cao Cao's eyes flashed with fierceness: "I thought that Xiu Ming was unwilling to kill me out of friendship, but do you know what he said at that time?" ”

Xun Yu and the others did not answer, but obviously, this sentence is the key.

"He said, I, Cao Cao, am just a chess piece in his hand!" Speaking of this, Cao Cao's eyes flashed with anger.

Although I know that this sentence is probably not a good word, but I didn't expect it to be such a result, Cao Cao, if it weren't for Ye Zhao's troops in Guanzhong, I'm afraid that in this world, Cao Cao should be the first prince in the world, and his majesty and strategy, everyone knows it very well, but now they are told that such a character is just a chess piece in the hands of others.

Cao Cao ignored everyone's shocked expressions, and said with a smile: "He wants to change the way of the world, how difficult it is, what happened to Shang Ying's change back then, you should be clear, and he, he wants to do Shang Ying's things, but he doesn't want to bear the consequences himself, so, not only Cao, the first emperor, Li Dao, Guo Yan and even Ben Chu, Gao, Sun Ce, are all his chess pieces, over the years, the changes in the world, you should also see in your eyes, he succeeded, but I wait for these chess pieces to become abandoned now, Cao is unwilling, even if he is defeated, Cao also wants to fight with him!" ”

There was silence in the room.

Cao Cao stood up, looked at everyone and said with a smile: "Although it is a little selfish, but this battle is really a move to vent personal anger, since the defeat has been decided, you really don't have to go with Cao, this last journey, just call Cao to go by yourself." ”

After speaking, without waiting for the three of them to reply, Cao Cao's whole person seemed to be a lot more relaxed, and he strode out of the door......