The road distance between Guandu and Changyi is just over four hundred miles, if the road is unblocked, and there are stagecoaches replaced along the way, then at most more than a day can send the news Guandu to Changyi, but unfortunately it is now the war years, and the road checkpoint in the western section was controlled and blocked by Yuan Shaojun, Cao Jun can only risk his life to walk on a remote road to bypass the checkpoint, first sneak to Chenliu to ride a horse and then hurry to Changyi, so no matter how hard the Cao Jun messenger tries, the four hundred miles of the road still walked for more than five days- This is the result of luck not being intercepted by Yuan Shaojun's patrol team and desperately hurrying.

After reading the letter of Boss Cao, which was only one sentence, Deputy Director Tao did not react, but handed the letter to Jia Lao Poison and Liu Ye and other senior staff officers to see, and quietly inquired about the origin of Cao Jun's messenger, when he learned that the dusty and exhausted messenger in front of him came directly from the Guandu camp, Deputy Director Tao hurriedly asked about the specific battle situation in Guandu, especially paying attention to some key details, "How is your ration distribution?" Has there ever been a situation where the rations have been cut off or the food has been distributed in small husks? ”

"Returning to the envoy, no." Cao Jun's messenger recalled and said: "Except for a few times when there was a lot of bran and wheat bran in the rations, there was never a shortage of grain, and there was no grain from Xiao Hu, and our warehouse official Wang Gao was a kind person, who had been responsible for distributing grain for eight years, and had never deducted the rations of our soldiers, and he was very respected by the soldiers." ”

"There's a lot of bran and bran?" Deputy Director Tao's triangular eyes rolled, and he hurriedly asked about the time and frequency of the deterioration of the quality of Cao Jun's rations, and after Cao Jun's messenger carefully recalled and tried his best to answer, Deputy Director Tao finally concluded that Cao Boss did not tell a lie, and the current grain and grass problem in Guandu Cao Jun is indeed very serious, and it must have been insufficient for several times, so Cao Boss has used bran, wheat bran and chaff to fill the number six or seven times, so as to stabilize the morale of the army, and it is possible that at any time because Cao Cao runs out of grain without a fight and will be defeated and completely collapsed.

Thinking about this, Deputy Director Tao finally asked the messenger of the Cao army: "When you came, did the lord of the Ru family say that if I am willing to lend him grain, can he have a way to transport it to the army?" ”

"Nope." The messenger Cao Jun shook his head blankly, and replied honestly: "The prime minister just told the villain not to let the letter fall into the hands of others, and once it is in danger, the letter must be destroyed immediately. ”

Deputy Director Tao's brows furrowed again, and he quickly nodded and said, "Very good, then you go down to rest first, and if there is a reply later, I will summon you again." Come, take him down to rest, so that he can be entertained. The messenger of Cao Jun saluted and thanked him, and hurriedly left the room with the guard, and went to the guest room to rest and eat.

"The thief can't hold on." Deputy Director Tao said to Jia Lao Poison, Liu Ye, Chen Ying and others on the left and right: "Although my father-in-law has suffered a few small losses, and he is obviously not Cao Thief's opponent in terms of strategy, but his conservative tactics of refusing to divide troops too much and not daring to win by surprise also happened to restrain Cao Thief, and basically did not give Cao Thief any chance to reverse the situation, as long as this confrontation deadlock is not broken, after a period of time, Cao Thief will definitely lose." ”

"Lord, it's time to take sides, right?" Jia Lao Poison said quietly: "If the lord is determined to join Cao to fight against Yuan, then he must have to make a move at this time, otherwise, once Cao Ying falls, it will be too late for our army to join Cao to fight against Yuan." If the lord is determined to avenge the old lord and give Cao Ying the most critical fatal knife at the most critical moment, he must also take action at this time, otherwise, when Yuan Shaoguandu wins, even if our army hugs Yuan Shao's thigh, Yuan Shao may not give our army another chance. ”

Deputy Director Tao didn't speak, and he bit his thumb and nails and gnawed his nails for a long time, and then suddenly asked, "How do you think our army should stand in line?" ”

"Ye proposes to support Yuan Shao's extermination of Cao." Liu Ye was the first to speak: "The disparity between strength and weakness is huge, Cao Jun does not even have the qualifications to hold on to Guandu until Yuan Shao's soldiers are exhausted, at this time, choosing to join Cao to resist Yuan is tantamount to taking trouble on oneself and provoking fire, not only can not save Cao Ying's fate of failure, but also will lead to a full-scale war between our army and Yuan Shao, and there is no room for compromise." ”

"I should also think that I should join Yuan to destroy Cao." Chen Ying, deputy secretary to Tao, who gradually grew up, also analyzed: "Let's not say that the blood feud between my five counties of Xuzhou and Cao Thief is not the same as the sky, and not that Yuan Shao is very kind to our army, and his attitude towards our army is far friendlier than that of Cao Thief, even if our army can abandon the previous suspicion and join forces with Cao Thief to fight against Yuan, we do not have the strength to support Cao Thief to defeat Yuan Shao." ”

"Not bad." Liu Ye nodded and agreed: "Our army can't help Cao Jun whether it is directly sending troops or aiding grain and grass, if we send troops directly, with the current strength of our army, at most it will share some positive pressure for Cao Jun, and it will not be able to change the situation of Yuan Qiang and Cao weak, nor can it resolve the grain and grass crisis of Cao Jun." Aid to Cao Jun's grain and grass, roads and water shipping have also been cut off by Yuan Shaojun, detour to Guandu is far from water can not quench the thirst, and when we send grain and grass to Cao Jun, the battle of Guandu will definitely be over. ”

Deputy Director Tao continued to bite his nails and calculate, and turned his gaze to Jia Lao Poison, who also did not speak, although Jia Lao Poison understood that Deputy Director Tao wanted to speak out on his own, but hesitated or refused to speak, seeing Jia Lao Poison's hesitant expression, Deputy Director Tao couldn't help but smile and asked, "Mr. Wenhe, what's wrong?" It's hard to see you so hesitant? ”

"It is at stake in the fate and future of our army, and I really dare not speak rashly and mislead the lord." Jia Lao Poison replied helplessly, and sighed again: "Although Mr. Ziyang and Yuan Fang are reasonable, judging from the current situation and the battle situation in Guandu, joining Yuan to resist Cao is also the safest and safest choice for our army, but it is ............. ”

Speaking of this, Jia Lao Poison shook his head again, not wanting to say any more, but Liu Ye did not relent, and asked for Deputy Director Tao: "But what? Why did Mr. Wenhe stop talking? ”

"Mr. Wenhe should be worried about the situation after the fall of the Cao thief, right?" Deputy Director Tao opened his mouth, and said in a low voice and helplessly: "To be honest, I'm also worried about this, it's easy to join Yuan to destroy Cao, and it is not difficult for me to curry favor with Lord Yuezhang again, but after the Cao thief falls, Yuan Shao's next expansion target will be either Jingzhou or Xuzhou, and then our army will only have two ends, one is to use Lord Yuezhang as cannon fodder to attack Jingzhou, and the other is to replace the position of Cao Thief, and fight against Lord Yuezhang's hundreds of thousands of troops, or even millions of troops!" ”

"The lord also said that he missed a point, and against Yuan Shao alone, our army is far more difficult than Cao's army." Jia Lao Poison added: "First, the combat strength of our army is not as good as Cao Ying, and the second is that Xuzhou is a place of four wars, and there is almost no danger to defend. ”

Deputy Director Tao nodded silently, admitting that what Jia Lao Poison said was true, and it was actually a hundred times more difficult to replace the role of Cao Boss in history to defeat Yuan Shao. But Jia Lao Poison hadn't spoken yet, and added with a sigh, "And it can also be concluded that after Cao Ying falls, our army must be Yuan Shao's first target, and the water network in Jingxiang is dense, and it takes a lot of money and food to build a water army, and it also takes a lot of time to train and train sailor soldiers, and it is very difficult for Yuan Shao, who currently has no water army, to take down Jingxiang Nine Counties." ”

"Our Xuzhou is different, the terrain is open and suitable for Yuan Shao's advantageous cavalry to maneuver vertically and horizontally, and there is abundant money and grain, and the agriculture and commerce are prosperous, and the capture of Xuzhou can not only obtain a large amount of population money and food, but also obtain a stable rear base to protect the flanks, and even obtain the Xuzhou Navy Division that we are forming, so that Yuan Shao is no matter how confused he is, I am afraid he will not make a wrong choice."

After listening to the analysis of Jia Lao Poison and Deputy Director Tao, Liu Ye and Chen Ying, who had previously agreed with Yuan to destroy Cao, were dumbfounded, and only then did they realize that their suggestions could lead to so many terrifying consequences, and may even bring destruction to the five counties of Xuzhou. Shocked, Chen Ying hurriedly changed his words and said: "Lord, then let's just join forces with Cao to fight against Yuan, while sending troops to contain Yuan Shao's flank, and at the same time detour to Chenliang Second County to send a batch of grain and grass to Cao Thief, so as to avoid that after Cao Thief falls, our army will immediately face a catastrophe of annihilation." ”

"It's definitely too late to take a detour to deliver food." Deputy Director Tao shook his head, frowned and said: "Sending troops directly, not only is the support effect difficult to estimate, but also very dangerous, the road from Changyi to Guandu is four hundred and sixteen miles, almost all of them are open areas, and our army's grain road will not only be threatened by Yuan Shaojun's cavalry, but also by Cao Thief's local team, relying on more than 1,000 gentlemen's army ......." ”

"Huh?"

Deputy Director Tao was stunned, and the little white face of the silver evil also showed a strange look, Jia Lao Poison and Liu Ye and the others present were familiar with Deputy Director Tao's temper, and hurriedly asked together: "Lord, what have you thought of to solve the problem?" ”

"No, the disparity in strength is so big, how can it be so easy to think of a clever plan to solve the problem?" Deputy Director Tao shook his head, smiled again, and said, "I just thought of a possibility, and I was distracted for a moment." In short, our army directly sent troops to rescue Cao Shao, although there will definitely be some effect, but how big the effect is cannot be guaranteed, and at the same time, our army will also take a lot of risks, so we can't hope that our army will send troops to attack Yuan Shao's back, which can resolve the positive crisis of Cao Shao, and will definitely help Cao Thief defeat Yuan Shao. ”

"Then how should our army stand in line?" Chen Ying said distressedly: "Lian Yuan's annihilation of Cao is self-destructive, Lian Cao's resistance to Yuan is neither sure nor effective, and it is almost impossible to hold on to continue to sit on the mountain and watch the tiger fight Cao thief, in a dilemma, how should our army choose?" How to choose? ”

Resourceful like Liu Ye, old and slick like Jia Lao poison, and fierce and vicious like Deputy Director Tao, there is no way to answer Chen Ying's question. After biting his fingernails and thinking about it for a long time, Deputy Director Tao's heart suddenly moved, and he hurriedly shouted to the left and right guards: "Go to someone, please ask Mr. Ziyi to come to the hall to discuss matters, just say that I have a major military situation to discuss with him, please come quickly." ”

One of the guards sang a promise and left, and Deputy Director Tao turned to Jia Lao Poison and the others and smiled and said: "Don't be anxious, Mr. Ziyi has a lot of knowledge, and there will be high opinions on this major issue that determines the future and fate of our army, and we will listen to his opinions, and then decide whether to join Yuan to destroy Cao, or to join Cao to fight against Yuan?" ”

Hearing Deputy Director Tao's words, Jia Lao's eyes widened, Liu Ye's mouth opened wide, but Chen Ying exclaimed, "Lord, you're not joking, are you?" When the lord appointed Mr. Ziyi as a counselor, Mr. Zijing and his brother warned the lord that Mr. Ziyi's name was exaggerated, and he was confused about small things and big things, and he should not listen to his opinions and proposals, and the lord rarely discussed military affairs with him in the past two years. At this critical moment when the rise and fall of our army is at stake, how could the lord suddenly remember to ask for his opinion? ”

"Mr. Ziyi is unreliable, I know this a hundred times better than you Yuanfang." Deputy Director Tao waved his hand and said with a smile: "But I just want to listen to his unreliable remarks today, if he suggests that I join Yuan to destroy Cao, I will join Cao to fight against Yuan!" If he suggests that I join Cao to fight against Yuan, I will resolutely join Yuan to break Cao! Anyway, whatever he says, I'll prioritize how to do it the other way around! ”

Jia Lao Poison and Liu Ye both laughed, Chen Ying also breathed a sigh of relief, and then said worriedly: "But lord, what if Mr. Ziyi said the right advice this time?" ”

"Is it possible, you say?" Deputy Director Tao smiled and asked, "When our army first sent troops this time, it was even able to come up with such a bad idea as preemptively attacking Xuchang and robbing the Son of Heaven, could such Mr. Ziyi give the right suggestion?" ”

Chen Ying smiled again, nodded and no longer objected, and began to accompany Deputy Director Tao to wait patiently for Mr. Ziyi's high opinion, and Mr. Jiang Gan, who had nothing to do well since he came to Deputy Director Tao's account, was also very eager to make contributions, and soon came to the meeting hall where Deputy Director Tao was. At the same time, in order to facilitate Mr. Jiang Gan's judgment and choice, Deputy Director Tao also took the trouble to explain to Mr. Jiang Gan the dangerous consequences of Lian Yuan's extermination of Cao, the great difficulties of Lian Cao's resistance to Yuan, and introduced the dilemma of food shortage that Cao's army is currently facing, and the situation has become so serious that the Xuzhou army must immediately choose to take sides.

Mr. Jiang Gan did not disappoint Deputy Director Tao, after listening to Deputy Director Tao's introduction and explanation, Mr. Jiang Gan immediately said very responsibly: "Thank you for the trust of the lord, since the return to the lord's account, he has been taken care of by the lord for a long time, but he has not yet made a big contribution, I deeply regret it, this time the lord will not give up, ask to do it to the military affairs, do my best, think of a good strategy for the lord, and resolve the current dilemma of our army." ”

"Mr. Ziyi, please feel free to speak your mind, and you should listen to the teachings." Deputy Director Tao urged sincerely.

"Please let me think about it." Mr. Jiang Gan gave up his hand, and immediately started his head, which he didn't know what he was pretending, and began to think carefully about countermeasures for Deputy Director Tao, while Deputy Director Tao and Jia Lao Poison and others also held their breath and didn't dare to make a sound, for fear of interrupting Mr. Jiang Gan's train of thought, and waited for Mr. Jiang Gan to make a choice.

"There it is!"

Deputy Director Tao and Jia Lao Poison and the others didn't wait long, Mr. Jiang Gan quickly applauded and shouted, and hurriedly said to Deputy Director Tao: "Lord, Gan has thought of a plan to resolve the current predicament." ”

"Mr. Ziyi, please give it a try."

Deputy Director Tao hurriedly urged again, and Jia Lao Poison, Liu Ye and others also pricked up their ears, wanting to hear whether Mr. Jiang Gan wanted to suggest that Lian Yuan destroy Cao, or Lian Cao to fight against Yuan? However, Mr. Jiang Gan's answer made Deputy Director Tao and Jia Lao Poison and others smash their glasses together - Mr. Jiang Gan smiled and said, "Neutral!" Keep it in for now! ”

"Neutral?" Deputy Director Tao was completely dumbfounded, and he also had the feeling that a coin was thrown on the ground but did not fall upright.

"Neutral?" Jia Lao Poison and Liu Ye and the others were also stunned, and hurriedly asked together, "How does Mr. Ziyi think we should be neutral?" ”

"Immediately give up the two Yanzhou cities of Changyi and Hulu and withdraw to Xuzhou, which will not help Cao Ying and Yuan Shao." Mr. Jiang Gan said eloquently: "Since the consequences of our army uniting Yuan to destroy Cao are serious, and Liancao is not sure to resist Yuan, then it is better for our army to ask for the surname and no one to unite and no one to help, withdraw to Xuzhou and let them fight." In this way, whether it is Cao Yingsheng or Yuan Shaosheng, it has nothing to do with our army, and they can't hate our army after the war, and our army can also prepare for war with peace of mind, strengthen defense and develop military strength, so that the victors dare not peep at our five counties of Xuzhou. ”

Jia Lao Poison and the others had nothing to say, but Deputy Director Tao still refused to give up, and asked again: "Mr. Ziyi, in your opinion, in addition to neutrality, between the two armies of Yuan and Cao, who should our army support best?" ”

"It's not good to support anyone, it can only be two don't help each other, and it's best if you don't help each other!" Mr. Jiang Gan's answer was categorical.

"It's better to ...... if you don't help each other." Deputy Director Tao was a little desperate, but when he groaned in despair, Deputy Director Tao suddenly exclaimed, "Don't help each other?!" Why didn't I even think about helping each other? ”

"Lord Shengming." Mr. Jiang Gan was very happy and said: "In today's plan, our army can only choose not to help each other and remain neutral, so as to resolve the predicament and avoid creating enemies." ”

Deputy Director Tao ignored Mr. Jiang Gan's nonsense, his triangular eyes were just thinking quickly, and after a while, Deputy Director Tao's little white face showed a silver evil smile, and he smiled and instructed Mr. Jiang Gan: "Thank you Mr. Ziyi for your advice, I have an idea, Mr. Ziyi can retire and rest first, and a banquet should be held to entertain Mr. in a while, in order to reward Mr. for his work today." ”

Mr. Jiang Gan, who rarely received rewards, was overjoyed, hurriedly thanked him, and left happily. As soon as Mr. Jiang Gan left, Jia Lao Poison immediately asked quickly: "Lord, do you want to do the opposite, Cao Yuan will help?" ”

"Of course." Deputy Director Tao nodded, and said with a cruel smile: "Thank you Mr. Ziyi for reminding me, this made me realize that there is actually a way to help both sides, not only to help Yuan Shao destroy Cao, but also to help Cao thief resist Yuan, in this way, if Cao thief wins, our army will benefit greatly, and if Yuan Shao wins, it will alleviate contradictions, improve relations, and win time for our army to prepare for war, which is far better than directly helping Cao Shao to resist Yuan's failure, and immediately invite a monstrous disaster!" ”

Jia Lao Poison hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said: "What the lord said is very true, but the plan for today is that it is safer to step on two boats, but he thinks that he can only secretly help Cao Shao, and he must not be caught by Yuan Shao, and it doesn't hurt to help Yuan Shao, Cao Ying and Yuan Shao's strength is huge, even if he wins Yuan Shao in Guandu, he will inevitably rely on our army to help him continue to fight against Yuan Jun, even if he knows that our army is stepping on two boats, he will not dare to publicize the attack." ””

"What Mr. Wenhe said is exactly what I want." Deputy Director Tao smiled and nodded, and then smiled and instructed Chen Ying: "Yuan Fang, go and bring us the blueprint of the thunderbolt we used ourselves, as well as the formula of the flying musket." ”

Chen Ying quickly agreed, and soon took the drawings of the Xiangyang cannon and the formula list of the flying musket, Deputy Director Tao first carefully separated, and then handed the drawings of the Xiangyang cannon to Chen Ying, and instructed: "Write me a letter to Lord Yuezhang, first apologize for my bad attitude last time, and then tell Lord Yuezhang that this is the blueprint of the thunderbolt car that I have personally improved, which is more powerful and farther to fight, and give it to him to help him attack the Cao thief." Finally, I told my father-in-law, if he didn't mind, as long as he sent an envoy to show me the original edict, I would immediately lead my troops to Guandu to help him attack the Cao thief. ”

Chen Ying agreed, and hurriedly went to the side to write a book, and Liu Ye said kindly: "Lord, let Ye make a book for Cao Ying for you, please tell the lord." ”

"No, I'll write it myself." Deputy Director Tao, who was in a mess of seal scripts, shook his head and refused for the first time, picked up the brush again, and wrote a few words on a piece of white silk with great difficulty, and then put it into the letter bag with his own hands, sealed it with fire paint, and prepared to send it to Guandu to Boss Cao together with the formula of the flying musket. Jia Lao Poison and Liu Ye, who didn't see the content next to him, looked at each other, and couldn't understand why Deputy Director Tao's letter was so short, how could it seem to be just a number?

Just as he was about to summon the messenger of Cao Jun, Deputy Director Tao grabbed the envelope in his hand, which was actually only written with only two words, and hesitated for a moment, before changing his words and saying: "Mr. Ziyang, you go and arrange it quickly, and prepare a batch of Cao thief's military uniforms and banners for me, the sooner the better." Again, by the way, Tao Ji came to see me. ”

(To be continued)