Liu Bei was overjoyed, and he could use his fame to act if he could get in touch with Kong Rong, so he agreed at that time. Afterwards, I found someone to inquire and found out that this Gan Qian was Xuzhou Xiaopei, her family was poor, although she was a little related to Kong Rong, but she didn't move around much, but when she learned that Gan Qian was a great beauty, her heart was balanced.

Subsequently, Liu Bei wantonly recruited the captured Yellow Turban elite in Beihai City, and Kong Rong, the unjust leader, provided grain, grass and ordnance, and quickly expanded the army to 40,000 people, in terms of troops, it has surpassed Kong Rong, second only to Tian Kai.

Although the co-optation of the Yellow Turban thieves is the only shortcut to strengthen oneself in a short period of time, if there is no strong economic strength to back them, they can't feed these thieves.

Cao Ying recruited nearly 600,000 Yellow Turban thieves, and although most of them were incorporated into civilians, 200,000 people were still incorporated into the military. Cao Ying named this team "Qingzhou Army!" Coupled with the original more than 50,000 parts, there are nearly 300,000 troops.

An army of 300,000 is not a small number, Ma Chao owns the land of three states, and he started several years earlier than him, and it is only 350,000 troops, how can he feed so many troops with a Yanzhou that he has just recovered.

Cao Ying had already thought of this, and he screened the 200,000 people he had collected again, and selected 50,000 young and strong people to be included in the troops of the generals under his command. The rest were divided into several cantonment camps, and land was set aside for military cantonment. However, spring has not yet begun, and there are at least 10 months left before the autumn harvest can be made, and the problem of food rations for the 500,000 or 600,000 people collected urgently needs to be solved.

At that time, Ma Chao made a windfall in the wars of the Southern Xiongnu, Wuheng and Xianbei, and even then it only took in nearly a million displaced people, how could Cao Ying feed such a huge population.

While borrowing grain from various heroes and powers in Yanzhou, Cao Ying summoned several strategists under his command, such as Xun Yu, Xi Zhicai, Cheng Yu, and Man Chong, to discuss countermeasures.

Cao Ying said: "Now Ma Chao is powerful, the tiger is in the land of the three northern states, and there is Xiliang Han Sui echoing him, and Huang Zhong, Zhao Yun, Zhang He three generals are arranged in Jizhou, and this time he came to Yecheng in person, I am afraid that it will be unfavorable to us, do you have any countermeasures?" After speaking, his eyes looked directly at Xun Yu.

Xun Yu said: "Ma Chao coerced the Son of Heaven to order the princes, although he had a heart of usurpation, but he was the most important. In my opinion, Ma Chao will never easily cross the river to capture the lord's Yanzhou in a short period of time, so you can rest assured! ”

Cao Ying said: "Why did Wen Ruo say this? ”

Xun Yu said confidently: "First, the lord has just broken the Yellow Turban Thief, and he has made great contributions to the imperial court, and Ma Chaoshi is unknown!" Second, Ma Chao is already on the cusp, Yanzhou is the gateway to the north of Yuzhou and Yangzhou, if Yanzhou is captured by Ma Chao, Yuan Shao will have to face Ma Chao directly, this is a relationship between lips and teeth. Therefore, Yuan Shao would never watch Ma Chao's soldiers attack the lord, and he would definitely send troops to rescue him, and Ma Chao would naturally think of this. Third, Ma Chao has not yet unified the land north of the Yellow River, and if the rear is unstable, he will never go all out to fight with Yuan Shao and the lords and other princes! ”

Xi Zhicai nodded and said, "Mr. Xun's words are reasonable!" The threat from Ma Chao can be assured, the lord can take advantage of this short respite to strengthen himself, and at the same time, Lu Bu, who is stationed in Yingchuan, has to be guarded against! ”

As soon as Cao Ying heard Lu Bu's name, his heart suddenly became angry, and he gritted his teeth and said: "Lu Bu's husband and I have a hatred for taking his wife, I swear not to give up with him, if Yuan Shao hadn't secretly provided Lu Bu with food and grass last year, I would have destroyed him long ago!" Why do you say it so far? Pity my two concubines and son Cao Pi are still in the hands of Lu Bu, I should immediately send troops to destroy them, and I hate them! ”

"My lord, don't do it!" Cheng Yu stood up and said: "If the lord sends troops now, and the food and grass are not enough, not to mention it for the time being, then Yuan Shao will never watch the lord destroy Lu Bu, it will definitely be a situation of futility, and it will only waste grain and grass in vain and damage the department!" ”

Cao Ying nodded and sighed: "Yuan Shao doesn't want to see me become bigger, trying to use Lu Bu to balance it, why don't I know?" However, if the wife and children fall into the hands of the enemy, if they do not send troops to save them, they will be laughed at by the people of the world! If so, what kind of hero am I, Cao Mengde? ”

Xun Yu said: "Isn't the lord being laughed at by the people of the world now?" If you know that there is no result, why force it? Being ridiculed is just a temporary thing, who can laugh last is the real hero! When the foundation is about to be completed, the lord has to endure for a while! ”

Cao Ying's face was cloudy, obviously struggling in his heart, and it took a while to calm down, and he laughed: "The words of the two are like morning bells and dusk drums, which make Ye Wan wake up, and he is in danger of making a big mistake because of hatred." In your opinion, what should we do next? ”

Xun Yu smiled and said: "The lord has already thought about it, why should I wait for more!" ”

Cao Ying was stunned for a moment, followed by a burst of laughter, and looked at Xun Yu with a smile and said, "Those who know me, Wen Ruoye!" Yes, I do have a preliminary idea, and now I will call you to discuss the feasibility of his surname! Please also try to say it! ”

Xun Yu said: "The lord's reputation has been shocked recently, and he has incorporated hundreds of thousands of Yellow Turban thieves in one fell swoop, which is comparable to Ma Chao's absorption of Black Mountain thieves three years ago. However, Ma Chao had the power to defeat the three northern tribes at that time, and seized countless cattle, horses, money and grain, even so, it took a lot of effort to resettle millions of displaced people. Now although the lord has received the post of Yanzhou pastor, but the hearts of the people of Yanzhou have not yet been attached, it is impossible to feed hundreds of thousands of people for a year by relying on some powerful families, and if you want to keep these displaced people to obtain greater benefits, you can only effectively imitate Ma Chao's method of supporting the people with war, there is no way out! ”

After a pause, he continued: "Now that Yuan Shao is entrenched in the south, Ma Chao is eyeing him in the north, and Lu Bu, a hungry wolf in the west, if the lord wants to obtain a large amount of supplies, the only way out is to attack Xuzhou in the east." ”

Cao Ying nodded and said, "Wen Ruo's words are very much in line with my intentions!" I wonder if this is possible? ”

Xun Yu shook his head and said, "Whether you can do it or not, you must do it!" Otherwise, there will be chaos within the lord, and if the hundreds of thousands of yellow turban thieves who have recovered have no rations, they can only continue to loot everywhere, and the people of Yanzhou will also be greatly poisoned. If this is the case, the lord will be greatly disappointed by accepting the yellow turban thieves, and it may be difficult to gain a foothold in Yanzhou! ”

"Exactly!" Xi Zhicai interjected: "On the other hand, in Xuzhou, Tao Qian is old and mediocre, and although the matter of worshipping Buddha has recovered, it has neglected military development, and the concept of the family is very deep, and the talents under his command have withered, which is really vulnerable!" The lord can send an elite division to quickly capture Xuzhou, and if this matter is successful, a large number of materials can be harvested, and all problems will be solved! ”

Cao Ying said: "The words of the two are very good, why don't I plan to do so?" However, although we have hundreds of thousands of troops, we have no name, and if we rush to forcibly send troops, I am afraid that we will lose the hearts of the people! (To be continued.) )