Cao Ying pondered for a while, nodded and said, "Ma Chao is far-sighted, and seems to have the ability to predict the future!" As early as a few years ago, he began to operate the local forces, and at present, he has a large number of talents, an orderly rule, a strong army, and a sophistication of ordnance that is far from being comparable to the princes of all walks of life. ”

Xun You said: "What the lord said is very true, my own nephew Xun You also served under Ma Chao, according to Gongda, the world pacified by Ma Chao is by no means only the land of the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty, nor the Western Regions and the northern grasslands, its ambition is to the whole world, including the Western Great Qin Empire and the natives on the other side of the ocean. It is said that there are still many crops on the American continent in the east that our Han does not have, and if the Han can be introduced, even if the population doubles, there will be no famine! ”

Everyone was silent when they heard this, and after a long time, Cao Ying said: "Sooner or later, Ma Chao will send troops to exterminate our local princes, and now Jizhou, Bingzhou, Qingzhou and Sili Guanzhong have all fallen into the hands of Ma Chao, Xiliang Han Sui is Ma Teng's righteous brother, and Ma Chao's father-in-law, the relationship is unbreakable, if we want to fight against it, only by uniting all the princes can we have a chance of winning!" ”

Xun You said: "That's right, although Ma Chao is powerful, he also has weaknesses, and his ambition is his Achilles' heel!" Now that Qingzhou has been decided, only Youzhou alone in the north is struggling, but Youzhou Mu Liu Yu has no courage to resist Ma Chao, Gongsun Zhan has to guard against Liu Yu on the one hand, and on the other hand, he has to face the threat of Ma Chao, and the future is bleak. In less than two years, Youzhou will be captured by Ma Chao, and then he will be able to free up his hands to deal with the lord and Yuan Shao, Sun Jian, Liu Biao and other princes, if the lord wants to achieve great things, he must unite all the princes before Ma Chao unifies the north, and completely destroy his power! ”

Xi Zhicai nodded and said: "Wen Ruo's words are very reasonable, Ma Chao has unpredictable talents, and his ability to govern the place is far from being comparable to that of all roads, if it drags on for a few more years, the talents of the world will go to cling to it, and the land under his rule will become more and more prosperous. ”

Cao Ying thought so, and said in a deep voice: "The words of the two are even pertinent, even so, we can't sit still, I immediately wrote a letter to Yuan Benchu, and sent a messenger to explain the pros and cons to him, explain the benefits and disadvantages, and persuade him to unite all the princes to jointly crusade against Ma Chao." ”

Xi Zhicai hugged his fists and said: "I am willing to send an envoy to Yuan Shao, and I promise to persuade Yuan Benchu and make him tempted." ”

Cao Ying said: "If you have ambitions, you will come out naturally!" In addition, he has to send someone to recover Lu Qian, since he wants to return to the army to recapture Yanzhou, it is better to sell Liu Bei's favor and let him resist Ma Chao alone! ”

After discussing the countermeasures, Cao Ying immediately transferred Cao Ren, Xiahoudun and other generals who went out to loot back to rectify it, and nearly 100,000 troops began to withdraw one after another with looted materials.

Liu Bei, who was stationed near Xiaopei, couldn't help but be overjoyed when he heard that Cao Ying had withdrawn his army, and his vanity was greatly satisfied, but he didn't expect him Liu Bei to have such a ability, and he withdrew Cao Ying's 100,000 army with a letter. However, he soon heard the news of Lu Bu's invasion of Yanzhou, and then thought of Ma Chao, who had entered Qingzhou, and suddenly felt bad in his heart. But he didn't have any family background, so the three brothers led tens of thousands of soldiers and horses, and they could settle down anywhere, and wherever they went.

After making up his mind, Liu Bei set up troops to march to Pengcheng, and was warmly welcomed by the soldiers and civilians of Xuzhou by virtue of his retreat from Cao. Tao Qian personally led the civil and military officials out of the city to greet them, and thousands of Xuzhou people lined up on both sides of the road with food, which can be described as infinitely beautiful.

That night, Tao Qian held a banquet in the mansion to entertain Liu Bei, and Guan Yu, Zhang Fei, Sun Qian, Jian Yong and others were present. After three rounds of drinking, Tao Qian hugged his fists and said: "This time Cao thief retreated, most of it was the work of Liu Zhijun, and Qian thanked Liu Zhijun on behalf of the people of Xuzhou for his rescue!" ”

Liu Bei cupped his fists and saluted back: "Don't dare to be!" Cao thieves plundered the people and killed innocents indiscriminately, which has already provoked the anger of the heavens and the resentment of the people! If it weren't for the imperial court appointing Lu Bu as the pastor of Yanzhou this time, I am afraid that I would be helpless! ”

Tao Qian nodded and said: "Liu Yuanjun's words are not unreasonable, but Cao Thief and I Xuzhou have an undying enmity, although he retreats now, it is inevitable that he will make a comeback in the future, the old man is old, and the dog is not a weapon, I am afraid that he will not be able to protect the people of Xuzhou." Previously, the old man had said that if Liu Yuanjun could retreat from Cao Thief, he would be able to give up the post of Xuzhou Assassin, and now he is about to fulfill his promise! After that, he ordered someone to present the seal of the Xuzhou Thorn History.

Liu Bei's eyes flashed with a touch of fanaticism, what he came to Xuzhou to ask for was the land of Xuzhou, but he was also very sober, it was too unreliable to want to enter Xuzhou just by retreating Cao Ying's little work. Xuzhou is different from Qingzhou, Tao Qian's reputation in Xuzhou is not ordinarily high, if he dares to agree, I am afraid that Xuzhou officials other than Mi Zhu will not agree, and he said urgently: "This matter must not be!" Prepare for this only to seek the difficulties of urgent people, and never seek the heart of Xuzhou! Please also ask the gentleman to take back his life! Besides, Tao Gongshang has two sons, why not pass them on! ”

Tao Qian said: "The eldest son Shang Xiwen and the second son Ying Xiwu are all embarrassed by their talents, but they are not as talented as Xuande to govern the world!" Xuande has the identity of the Han family, and this time he has made great contributions to Xuzhou. ”

Liu Bei was very tempted, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei were even more impatient, hoping that Liu Bei would agree. Now they have 50,000 soldiers and horses under their command, and if there is no stable supply of grain and grass, the villagers who have worked so hard to gather will inevitably disperse. After pondering for a long time, Liu Bei said: "Tao Gong has a heart, but Bei does not dare to lead the post of Xuzhou Assassin History." This time Cao thief retreated, it was actually the reason why Lu Bu invaded Yanzhou! Once the matter in Yanzhou is decided, the Cao thief will raise troops to attack for the second time, and he will only ask for the garrison Xiaopei, one to help Tao Gong resist the Cao thief's attack, and the other to find a place to live! ”

Tao Qian saw that Liu Bei didn't accept it, and he couldn't force it, in fact, he didn't have any good intentions when he pushed the post of assassin to Liu Bei. Xuzhou is weak in military force, and it is a rich land in the world, I don't know how many people covet it? Cao thief is just taking the lead! In addition to Cao Ying, there are also Yuan Shao in the south and Ma Chao in the north, who doesn't want a piece of the pie? He is over sixty years old, riddled with diseases, and knows that his fate will not be long in coming! Instead of letting the two sons be bullied by the princes from all walks of life, it is better to let Liu Bei be a substitute for the dead ghost.

At this moment, I heard that Liu Bei wanted to garrison Xiaopei, Tao Qian had no reason not to agree, Xiaopei is adjacent to Yanzhou in the west and Qingzhou in the north, which is the only way for Cao Ying to invade Xuzhou. At the moment, he said: "It is rare for Liu Yuanjun to have a fist of heart, and he is humble and self-sufficient, and the grain and grass needed by the army are all supplied by me in Xuzhou!" ”

Liu Bei was overjoyed, he waited for a long time, just waiting for Tao Qian's words, with enough grain and grass, he could recruit troops and expand the army, and this year, enough soldiers and food are the last word!

After the banquet was dismissed, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei came to the door, and Zhang Fei hurriedly said: "Big brother, I have been wandering around for several years, and I need a place to settle down, since Tao Qian has given in, why should he push back!" ”

Guan Yu also said: "The third brother's words are reasonable, Xuzhou is the land of heavy capital in the world, and it can be worth most of Jizhou, if there is Xuzhou as a base, why should I be afraid of Ma Mengqi!" ”

Liu Bei shook his head and said, "The second brother and the third brother only know one of them, but they don't know the other. Now that the imperial court is controlled by Ma Chao, Tao Qian is the assassin of the imperial court, how can he let people go? Previously, less than three months after Cao Thief had led Yanzhou Mu, Ma Chao appointed Lu Bu as Yanzhou Mu and supported him in attacking Cao Ying. If I accept the post of Xuzhou assassin, then Ma Chaoyan can sit idly by, so he will give him an excuse to attack us! What an unwise move! ”

Zhang Fei was unconvinced: "Come on, just come, I'm about to fight him for another three hundred rounds!" ”

Liu Bei said: "At the moment, I can only seek a place to live for the time being, wait and see what happens, and wait for the opportunity to slowly become bigger!" We must not give Ma Chao an excuse to attack us and wait! And Tao Qian is just a worm after the autumn, and Xuzhou can't run away, as long as the people believe in us and the local officials support us, why care about a false name! ”

However, it was said that Cao Ying returned to Yanzhou, seeing that Lu Bu was powerful, supplemented by Chen Gong, Zhang Miao and others, most of Yanzhou had been lost, and only Juancheng and Dong'e were left with Lai Xun Chengyu and Manzhong Design connected, and the city had to be kept by defending it. After Cao Ying's main force was stationed in Zhencheng, he discussed countermeasures with the generals and strategists, and immediately said: "I expect that Lu Bu has courage and no strategy, and he is not enough to worry, and he can be captured with a little trick." ”

Xun You said: "The lord must not underestimate the enemy, although Lu Bu has no strategy, Chen Gong is by no means an idle person, and Guo Jia and Du attack help each other, then Guo Fengxiao's talent is by no means weaker than ours, if Lu Bu is like a stream, it will be difficult to recapture Yanzhou!" ”

Cao Ying laughed and said: "Lu Bunai is a person who forgets his righteousness, has no plan in his chest, and is self-righteous, now that he has come out of the turtle shell, I will be able to capture it, and the new hatred and old grudge will be settled together!" ”

Lu Bu learned that Cao Ying had returned to the army and had passed Teng County, so he urgently summoned Yang Feng and Yu Fuluo and said: "You two have been taking refuge in this general for a long time, and now they finally have the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, so you can lead 10,000 troops to stick to the camp, and I personally led the troops to break Cao." ”

The two promised. Lu Bu ordered 20,000 elite soldiers and was about to send troops, Chen Gong and Guo Jia hurriedly broke in, Chen Gong said: "Where does the general want to raise troops?" Lu Budao: "I want to garrison Puyang, and jointly resist the Cao thief." ”

Chen Gong said: "The general's words are wrong. If you want to destroy the thief, why do you need to be vigorous? This goes due south one hundred and eighty miles, Mount Tai road is dangerous, but 20,000 elite soldiers can be ambushed there, Cao thief heard that Yanzhou was lost, and he will take a shortcut to enter. When it is more than halfway, it can be broken with one blow. ”

Lu Budao: "Ben General Tun Puyang has no good plan, how can you speculate?" "So without Chen Gong's words, he will send troops to Puyang. Guo Jia said: "General and move slowly, Jia has a word, it's not too late to leave after listening!" ”

Lu Budao: "You are a minister under Ma Chao, aren't you the key to this?" ”

Guo Jia said: "Jia came to help on the order of my lord, aiming to help the general destroy the Cao thief, how can he be selfish?" If the general is suspicious, Jia will leave on his own! ”

Lu Bu frowned, it was nothing to offend Guo Jia, the key was that Guo Jia was Ma Chao's person, and he still needed Ma Chao to provide logistical supply help at the moment, and he must not be offended. At the moment, he said: "But he said that the cloth was speechless, and Feng Xiao has something to say, but it doesn't hurt to say it!" (To be continued.) (To be continued.) )