In July, Cao Cao hurriedly drew troops from Hebei back to Yanzhou, temporarily slowing down his offensive against Yuan Shao and consolidating the territory he had gained.

The reason why this happened suddenly was because Zhang Xiu, who was stationed in Runan, sent an envoy to report to Cao Cao that Sun Ce had recruited thousands of new troops in Jiujiang and Guangling, but it was still insufficient, and he drew nearly 10,000 troops from Jiangzuo and divided them into Shouchun and Anfeng, which seemed to have the intention of committing a crime in the north.

If Sun Ce wanted to cross the Dabie Mountain and attack Jiangxia Huangzu by land, the troops should not be so far north, and he would draw troops from Jiangzuo again, and the harassment and pressure on Liu Biao Changsha would also stop, if he didn't want to take advantage of Cao Cao's main force to attack Hebei, he would want to march into Runan and the entire land of Yuzhou?

Cao Cao was anxious to swallow Yuan Shao, while guarding Sizhou in Chenliu and Yingchuan, and also ordered the army to cross the Yellow River to fight Qingzhou and Jizhou, and Yanzhou was empty. In fact, Sun Ce discussed with Lu Su and Zhou Yu, suspended the attack on Liu Biao again, and drew troops to the north, and his ambition was not only to occupy Runan, but he was preparing to drive straight in, to attack Dingtao, and wait for the Son of Heaven to go south, and settle in the land of Jiangzuo, one can replace Cao Cao to carry out the Nine Grades Law, and the other is to lead the Han people to the south to supplement the population of Jiangzuo.

Because of this, a few months ago, Liu Biao's pressure on Changsha dropped sharply, and he still carefully sent to investigate, and when he heard that the Sun clan really transferred troops to the north, he dared to send troops to secretly attack Nanyang, wanting to break Deng Ji's army first.

Sun Ce's army mobilization was not easy, and he was finally detected by Zhang Xiu and sued Cao Cao, who after Cao Cao heard the news, he urgently stopped the war in Hebei and turned to defend Sun.

Cao Cao was prepared, the northern expedition was no longer feasible, Sun Ce did not send the drawn soldiers back to Jiangzuo for the time being, and only stood still——— Cao Cao wanted to take advantage of Yuan Shao's defeat and weakening the force, and hurriedly used troops in Hebei. Sun Ce was not in a hurry. It is more advantageous for the confrontation to continue. Maybe we can squeeze some more benefits from Cao Cao?

This is how Jiujiang and Guangling got their hands on before!

For Sun Ce, he should take the opportunity to blackmail, if he can get Cao Cao's benefits again, he will lead this army over the Dabie Mountain, and attack Jiangxia Huangzu by land and water, and the chances of victory are still very good.

But for Cao Cao, now he can still garrison according to the Huai River, and if Huainan gives the land to Sun Ce after that. Yan, Yu, and Xu will no longer be in danger to defend, and all the states will be under the threat of his Sun clan, which will be even more difficult to defend.

One still wants to ask for more, and the other doesn't dare to give it anymore.

After Deng Ji, Sun Ce was added to the side, so that Yuan Shao, Ji and Youzhi could not be completely destroyed, the stalemate had been generated, the army could not move, Cao Cao hated, but there was nothing to be done, and he sighed to the ministers during the discussion: "Fang has to Huainan." And look at me, why is his heart insufficient? Sun Bo Fu is really a tiger too! ”

This sentence is both admiration. also secretly hated Sun Ce's greed.

It was not until one day at the end of August that his subordinate Fanqin presented four books, "Yin Wenzi", "Guiguzi", "Qin Cao" and "Xinyu", Meng De was overjoyed, and only then did he relieve his worries a little, and he nested in the study to read books after the political affairs were completed that day.

After carefully figuring out the method of printing the book, Cao Cao couldn't help but sigh and said loudly: "Son of the poor family, so the law is very profitable!" ”

Meng De is also a book lover, and he has to collect the books of his teacher Cai Yong, and after lamenting the printing of books for a while, he asked people to prepare more candles and read books in the study all night.

He was energetic and on the second day he was as a regular member. However, at noon, Dong Zhao entered with a copy of "Excerpts from the Garden", and said hurriedly: "My lord, the seal books that are sold in Imaji are all secretly attached to the Yuan system, and I am afraid that Deng Mu'an is the main envoy!" ”

The back cover of the book has been opened by him, and there are more than a dozen pieces of paper in it, Dong Zhao pinched the back cover and handed it forward, Cao Cao looked at it carefully, and the content above was a detailed introduction to the Dayuan system.

Printing? Made by Deng Muan? Cao Cao came to his senses, and went back to the study with a blue face to pick up the four books offered by Fanqin, and tore all of them to open the back cover to check, and sure enough, there were hidden pages.

Cao Cao was a profit-oriented man in the early stage, and his false name didn't matter, but after figuring it out, he was immediately furious, and went out to give an order: "Order Liu Ziyang to quickly arrest and kill the inbound booksellers, and confiscate all the printed books!" ”

Not long after the order was transmitted, Xun Yu's uncles, nephews, Guo Jia and others had already learned about it, and they hurried to persuade him, Xun Yu said worriedly: "It's too late to stop it now!" Chen Changwen's nine-product law can be implemented, the family is stable, although the Yuan system is virtuous, but it loses the heart of the wealthy family, so it will rule the Yuan system, and the public loss is also small, no need to worry! If you hunt down booksellers, you will be narrow-minded and weak-minded; Forcibly collect and print books, I am afraid that I will lose hope even more! ”

Cao Cao said hatefully: "However, Deng Mu'an took the opportunity to spread the Yuan system, and lured the cold people to compete for Sizhou, which is bound to be even stronger." Printing books is profitable, and it will become more and more difficult to treat in the future! If you can't stop the discussion, how can you just let it go? ”

Xun Yu and Xun Yu couldn't answer, Guo Jia shook his head and said: "The matter has spread, and the arrest of the bookseller can only vent his anger, but not cure the root cause!" ”

Guo Jia doesn't talk much on weekdays, but there must be something to say, listening to him talk like this, do you think you have something in your chest? Cao Cao suddenly cheered up: "Fengxiao has a plan to govern its roots? ”

Guo Jia thought about it, and Shi Li said: "Please enter the secret room!" ”

This is Cao Cao's mansion, and there are no outsiders here, but when he heard that Guo Jia was not confidential enough, Cao Cao was even more happy, and hurriedly led the three of them into the study, and asked people to stay outside and not allow anyone to approach.

Entering the study, Cao Cao asked again anxiously, Guo Jia said: "The original trend has declined greatly, and it is difficult to return to the old appearance. However, in addition, the Deng clan is an elite soldier, and the Sun clan is in danger of nature, all of which are heroic for a while, and they are difficult to sweep away, and the public is also in great trouble! Deng Ji and Sun Ce are all young people, and they rely on the prestige of the two of them under their rule, and the rest is still difficult to reach, and the sons of the two are young, and the heirs are unknown. I look at the report before and after, Sun Ce is light and unprepared, and he often stands brave and alone; Although Deng Ji must have guards when he goes out, he also loves to go back and forth among the people to show kindness. Although the two are carrying millions of people, if they are raised by the assassins, they can both die at the hands of the puppet! Why don't you choose a dead man to be an assassin and enter his realm to assassinate the two? Defeat is just a few dead soldiers, and the overall situation will not be damaged! ”

Since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, assassins have always been committed to assassination, although these things are dark and not the work of righteous gentlemen, and those who take advantage of the death of the country are not "righteous teachers", and they will be scolded by scholars, but they do have the effect of surprise and opportunity. Moreover, the military affairs are big, and he should not imitate Song Xianggong, and act like a gentleman everywhere. Hearing Guo Jia's words, Cao Cao was stunned, Xun Yu and Xun Yu also frowned and thought about what was feasible and deduced the aftermath.

Guo Jia said again: "If Deng Ji dies, the public will take the opportunity to enter Nanyang, and when the Sizhou army does not dare to come out, he will destroy Yuan Shao in the north, hoping to merge with the state and Sizhou; If Sun Ce dies, the public can take the two counties of Huainan, swallow the Lujiang River, and return the Sun family to the left of the river. The public has the ambition to help the world, and he can't do without a water division under his command, but he only thinks that the water division is rare for a while, if he stabs Deng Ji, he can occupy Nanyang and seize his naval army and dock for his own use; If Sun Ce swallows the Lujiang River, he can prepare his own water division in Chaohu Lake. If one of these two people dies, the deadlock will be broken, and if both of them die, the world will change greatly, and there will be no one to compete with the public! When Yuan Shao, Pang Zhen, and Deng in the north are wiped out, and then drive the land and water army to fight with Liu Biao and Sun for the land of Jingchu and Dongwu, then the world will only be Yizhou, Jiaozhou, and Liaodong, and a few places in the world will be undecided, all of which are slowly promising! ”

The construction of the naval army cannot be achieved overnight, but if you want to enter the south of the Yangtze River, it is a little too late for Cao Cao to start preparations at this time. The Beihai shipwrights and ship materials that were exchanged by Deng Ji, Cao Cao was also distressed afterwards, but the only place where he could build a naval army now was the Huai River waterway.

The south bank of the Huai River has belonged to the Sun forces, not to mention, in this era, the Huai River has its own outlet to the sea, and Hongze Lake is still a number of small shallow lakes called Po Putang. To the early days of the Southern Song Dynasty, in order to prevent the Jin soldiers from going south, Kaifeng Shou Du Chong dug off the south embankment of the Yellow River, so that the Yellow River was diverted, most of the Yellow River water flowed through Surabaya and merged into the Huai River, and the Huai River waterway entered the sea, and then for a long time, the sediment was silted, the mouth of the sea was blocked, the Huai River could not compete for the Yellow River, and finally it could only be diverted to the south, and the broken kettle pond was soaked into a wide Hongze Lake in later generations, not to mention, and then broke through the south embankment to continue to the south, and finally merged into the Yangtze River at the mouth of the three rivers, and entered the sea with the Yangtze River, during the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty, the Yellow River was diverted to the north again, However, the Huai River flowed into the Yangtze River until later generations.

The Huai River has its own outlet to the sea, even if Cao Cao can build a naval army on the Huai River, in the future, if he wants to compete for the power of the rivers and lakes, the naval army can only sail into the coastal waters first, travel along the coast to the mouth of the Yangtze River, and then turn back.

After listening to Guo Jia's words, although it is rare to assassinate these two lords and their full potential, it should not be difficult to take the opportunity to swallow part of their areas, and it is also excellent to be able to get Nanyang and Lujiang, so that Cao Cao has the opportunity to develop a naval army, Xun Yu, Xun You's uncle and nephew Fang Dawu, glanced at each other, and sighed together: "This is a sincere plan for the country!" ”

Cao Cao's eyes were also bright, and he patted the case: "If Deng Ji and Sun Ce are all killed, who else can stop me?" The plan of filial piety is excellent, but this matter is planned in the secret room, and the four of us don't want to pass it on to him! ”

After all, sending assassins and spreading it would damage Cao Cao's name, and the less people know about this matter, the better, Xun Yu and Guo Jia both promised.

After agreeing to go out, Cao Cao ordered Liu Ye to be recalled, canceled the previous order, and allowed booksellers to sell books in the country, and also allowed scholars to discuss the system of the Yuan Kingdom to show generosity. However, Cao Cao also saw that printing books was profitable, and also sent local city officials to levy high taxes on booksellers, and at the same time recruited craftsmen to prepare the same plate printing books for sale.

On the other hand, the Cao clan, the Xiahou clan, the Xun clan and other clans who received great favors and died without regrets were used, and within a few days, a total of seventeen people were able to use knives and bows, alert and courageous.

Cao Cao also looked for something highly poisonous, let it be darkened, and smeared it on the blade and arrow before he was instructed.

Before the seventeen dead soldiers left, Guo Jiashang told them to wait: "This matter can only be done once, and it will be rare in the future." Wait to enter the place, first steady and don't be in a hurry, slowly plan it, you must explore carefully left and right, and don't make a mistake in the sub-car. However, when you act, you should be decisive and resolutely do not retreat, so as to hit with one blow! The princes gave up their lives to accomplish this, and the little Cao Gong treated himself favorably, and sooner or later he will also make a book, so that the world will know the name of the princes! ”

Deng Ji was surrounded by guards when he went in and out, and twelve of the seventeen assassins went to Luoyang, and the leader was called Xiahou Jin; The five people who went to Shouchun, the leader was called Xun Zuo. (To be continued.) )