Cao's army first withdrew to Jingzhou, rested for a while, and Cao Cao and Cao Shuo led the army back to Yecheng and Shouchun respectively.

On the way back to Shouchun, Cao Shuo asked Cao Zhang, "What did you learn from this visit to Jiangdong?" ”

"The eldest brother uses soldiers like a god, which is really admirable to me." Cao Zhang said: "Following the eldest brother, you will definitely be able to learn many useful skills. ”

"How many heads did you decapitate this time?" Cao Shuo asked again.

"Thirty or fifty at least." Cao Zhang said: "I can't remember exactly. ”

"Father wants you to follow me, I just want to ask you, when do you plan to go to Yecheng to help your father?" Cao Shuo asked.

"Eldest brother wants to drive me away?" Cao Zhang was stunned.

"Of course not." Cao Shuo said: "You are not small, since you can go to the battlefield to make contributions, the future of following me is limited after all." If you go to your father's side, you will be crowned king sooner or later, so why bother to follow me? ”

"It is indeed possible to return to my father and become king earlier." Cao Zhang pursed his lips and said, "But I don't want to go back so early." Sooner or later, the eldest brother will take over his father's business, so just give me a fief at that time. It is safer to follow the eldest brother than to follow the father. ”

"If my father hears what you say, he'll have to screw your head off." Cao Shuo said with a smile.

Cao Zhang pursed his lips and didn't say anything more.

"After we returned to Shouchun, there was no fight for a while." Cao Shuo said: "I'll arrange something for you, you must do it safely." ”

"Whatever my eldest brother wants me to do, I will do it." Cao Zhangying said.

"You go to Yecheng, one is to escort the dowry to your father, and the other is to take Cao Xian and other sisters to Shouchun to complete the marriage." Cao Shuo said: "The longer this matter drags on, the more unstable I feel. ”

Cao Zhang also heard that Cao Shuo planned to match Zhao Yun and the others, so he arched his hand and said, "Eldest brother, don't worry, there will be nothing wrong with me going to escort me." ”

Patting his arm gently, Cao Shuo said, "I'll hand over the matter to you alone for the first time, don't let me down." ”

"No, it won't." Cao Zhang patted his chest and said, "If you can't do it, I'll come to see my eldest brother." ”

The Cao family withdrew, and the news didn't take long to reach Cangwu.

Fleeing to Cangwu, Sun Quan has been working on recruiting soldiers and horses.

There were many barbarians in the Cangwu area, and after Sun Quan arrived, he gathered many barbarian leaders, intending to recruit soldiers and horses from them.

The Sun family's mansion is still being built, and there is a rudimentary antechamber, Sun Quan sits on the head, and many barbarian leaders sit on both sides.

The Sun family ruled Jiangdong for several years, and there were several battles with the barbarians.

The barbarians are different from the Hu people in the north, and the Hu people live in a place where there are few available resources, and many consumables are plundered by the Central Plains to maintain the survival of the group.

The barbarians, on the other hand, lived in the relatively affluent south, and although their productivity was low, they lacked much.

There is no need to raid, and the barbarians can feed the tribe, so they are not as aggressive as the Hu people.

The barbarians who had fought with the Sun family had all suffered hardships, and Sun Quan summoned them, and out of fear and reverence, the barbarian leaders came one after another.

"Leaders." Looking around at everyone, Sun Quan said: "I came to Cangwu this time to build this place into a place as rich as Yangzhou. However, you can also be like the people of the Central Plains, wearing ayaluo and not worrying about food and clothing. It's just that until then, I need your help with something. ”

Barbarians are unproductive, and many of them walk around shirtless all year round, and even women are only covered with rags around their chests and waists.

If they can live a prosperous life like the people of the Central Plains, of course they are happy.

A barbarian leader asked Sun Quan, "I wonder how Marquis Wu plans to let us live the same life as the people of the Central Plains?" ”

"I'll leave this to me, don't worry." Sun Quan said: "The most important thing at the moment is whether we can live a good life and live steadily." ”

"How can I hold it down?" Another barbarian leader asked.

"I need soldiers." Sun Quan said: "You need a lot of soldiers and horses, but there are not many Han people in Jiaozhou, most of them are your clansmen. I have asked you to come here so that you may provide warriors. "Of course, I will bear the food and clothing of the warriors, and I will send benefits to each tribe according to the head of the person every year.

The barbarian leaders all looked at each other.

Let them send warriors to Sun Quan, many people are reluctant from the bottom of their hearts.

Seeing that the barbarian leaders were reluctant, Zhou Yu, who was sitting on the side, said: "Don't worry, leaders, we are just borrowing warriors, and we will return them in the future." ”

"How much to borrow, and for how long?" Another barbarian leader asked, "What do we get if our warriors die?" ”

"In case a warrior dies in battle, the Sun family will give a compensation." Zhou Yu said: "These compensations are enough for the warriors' families to eat and clothe for a lifetime. In addition, the leader of the clan also gets a lot of benefits. ”

"We'll have to think about it." One of the barbarian leaders said, "Giving you warriors is not very reassuring. ”

As he said this, the other barbarian leaders chimed in.

Then, the leaders stood up and said goodbye to Sun Quan, saying that they would consider the matter when they returned.

"Gong Jin, they don't seem to be reluctant, you see......" After the barbarian left, Sun Quan asked Zhou Yu.

"Since they are reluctant, we have only one way." Zhou Yu lowered his voice and said to Sun Quan: "Whoever opposes the most fiercely will be killed." ”

"There are many barbarians in Jiaozhou, I'm afraid it's ...... to do this" Sun Quan hesitated a little.

Zhou Yu said: "The barbarians are different from the Hu people in the north, the Hu people have a unified tribe, while the barbarians are very scattered. There are even enmity between each of their clans, and it is not easy to bring them together. Kill a barbarian leader, and there will not be many people who want to avenge him. ”

"What should I do if I anger the barbarians?" Sun Quan said: "Now we don't have many soldiers and horses, once the barbarians are in chaos, they can't be wiped out." ”

"The barbarians are even more different from the Cao family." Zhou Yu said again: "The Cao family's hundreds of thousands of troops advanced into Jiangdong, and we were powerless to deal with it, and even if the barbarians gathered hundreds of thousands, without a unified deployment, they were just a group of stragglers. Give me 3,000 soldiers, and I will be able to level the entire barbarian tribe in Jiaozhou. ”

"Is Gongjin really sure?" Sun Quan asked him.

"Ten percent of them take me." Zhou Yu said: "I lost to Cao Zirong in the first battle of Chibi, and I need Wu Hou to give him a chance to rebuild his prestige in front of the soldiers in the army. ”

Sun Quan nodded and said to Zhou Yu: "I also feel that Gongjin needs to rebuild his prestige, but he has to be very careful when dealing with barbarians." We can't afford to fail again. ”