Taiping and stable said that he always passed quickly, and led the team back to Pengcheng from Huainan, and when Deputy Director Tao almost didn't feel anything, the time had already entered the second half of the third year of Jian'an.

Diametrically opposed to the stable and peaceful five counties of Xuzhou, the chaotic Han world is becoming more and more turbulent. On the land of the Central Plains, after controlling the central and northern parts of Nanyang, Cao Boss once tried to attack Xiangyang and take the nine counties of Jingzhou, but was met with stubborn resistance from the joint efforts of Liu Biao, Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei, and stopped at the front line of Xinye. As a last resort, Cao Boss could only accept it when he saw it, and after beheading Deng Ji, the general of Liu Biao's northern line, he collected his troops and went north, and then divided a partial division to take Runan in the east, not only successfully won most of Runan, which was almost in a state of no political axe, but also recruited Li Tong, a general who was no less than the good general of the five sons, and gained both people and land.

After reconciling with Deputy Director Tao, Cao Boss obviously began to transfer, and during this period, the Guanzhong warlord Ning Ji General Duan Xuan killed Li Dao, the remnant of Dong Boss who returned to Chang'an, and personally took Li Dao's head and more than 200 members of Li Dao's family to Xuchang to surrender to Cao Boss, so that Cao Boss took the Guanzhong land without much effort - at least the Guanzhong land in reputation. And another Dong boss, Yu Yan Guo Yan, was also killed by Wu Xi by the rebel department, and the head was also sent to Xuchang by Wu Xi to be dedicated to Cao Boss, Cao Boss was overjoyed, and rewarded Duan Xuan and Wu Xi, and the once declining strength also began to grow again, and quickly surpassed the previous heyday.

After coming to Yijing to command the battle, Da Yuan Sangong first defeated the reinforcements of the black mountain thief Zhang Yan who rushed to rescue Gongsun Zhan, and then concentrated all his strength to attack Yijing City, although Gongsun Chan dug ten trenches around the city to build fortifications, but could not withstand the joint onslaught of the three princesses of Da Yuan and the weakened version of the Xiangyang cannon, and lost all the peripheral fortifications in less than two months.

In desperation, Gongsun Zhan also took a large group of wives and concubines to hide in the middle of Yijing City, and the food and letters were only passed by rope hanging baskets, and he refused to go downstairs again, nor did he allow men to go upstairs for a step, waiting for death like an ostrich.

Deputy Director Tao's other good neighbors were not idle, just south of the little Yuan Sangong side, although Liu Xuanjun tried his best to resist stubbornly, but the emaciated camel is bigger than the horse after all, the overall strength of the absolute advantage of the small Yuan Sangong finally broke through the stone city and Danyang two cities, completely isolated Liu Xuan's Niuzhu camp, forced Liu Xiang to give up Niuzhu and retreat, Xiao Yuan Sangong took advantage of the momentum to march forward, chased and fought until Jurong stopped his footing, and took most of the grain-producing areas south of the Yangtze River and north of the Zhongjiang River. had to send envoys one after another to ask for help from Yan Baihu, Wang Lang and Xu Gong and other princes.

On the side of Liu Shoumen in the southwest, under the influence of the two-front battle, the Jingzhou counterinsurgency army led by Huang Zu made very slow progress, and the war to exterminate Zhang Xian's rebels was repeated several times, and several times because of the lack of supply of grain and grass and military supplies, and was forced to stop marching, so that Zhang Xian got a chance to breathe, and also gave Wuling and Lingling, two rebel counties, the opportunity to rescue Changsha, but so far they have not yet attacked Changsha City, which caused Liu Biao to be extremely dissatisfied, and also gave Liu Qi the time and opportunity to gain a firm foothold in Jiangxia.

The surrounding neighbors are fighting endlessly, only the five counties of Xuzhou are as stable as ever, and the prosperity is better than in the past, and they have caught up with the five counties of Xuzhou in Jian'an for three years of wheat ripening, of course, the people of Xuzhou are living and working in peace and contentment, and they are very aggrieved, but we are afraid that the world will not be chaotic Deputy Director Tao is very aggrieved, because during this time, the Xuzhou army does not say that it has expanded its territory, but it is not a chance to find a few rookies to brush up on the experience points, and the surrounding neighbors either can't afford to provoke or can't fight, and the army is training every day in addition to training, Up and down, it's almost stuffy.

In addition to inspecting the people's livelihood army at two ends for three days, he also took the time to develop pancakes, steamed buns, knife-cut noodles, salted radishes and tempeh and other marching dry food - don't look at these things are not high-tech, basically as long as you have seen and eaten them, you can make them, but they can greatly reduce the logistical burden, and can also allow the army to extend the time of field operations, which has a huge impact on the production and life of the military and civilian people. It has played a huge role in increasing productivity and improving the pace of life.

"Phew! Why is it so unpalatable? Spit out the trial black tempeh in his mouth, Deputy Director Tao gargled his mouth with water, and tried to recall the Sichuan black tempeh he had eaten in the 21st century - that thing will not go bad even if it is dried for a year, and a small handful can play the effect of seasoning and supplementing salt, but the celebrity chefs in Xuzhou have tried to make it three times, and they have not yet made the kind of taste that Deputy Director Tao likes.

Seeing Deputy Director Tao grinning and complaining that the black tempeh was unpalatable, Bo Chen, the master who sent the sample to Deputy Director Tao, was inevitably a little strange, and said, "Lord, it's not so unpalatable, right?" The grain officer reported that after this batch of samples was distributed to the army, our soldiers liked to use it for dinner, and they all said that it was better than the first two batches of black tempeh. ”

"Don't take those Danyang uncles as an example, they didn't fight that day?" Deputy Director Tao spit out the mouthwash, picked up a linen cloth and wiped his mouth and said, "Tell those cooks to make it again, add some minced ginger shreds and put it in to try, if it still doesn't work, just make a batch out of it according to this third method and store it." ”

Chen Ying sang a promise to agree, at this time, Liu Ye suddenly walked into Deputy Director Tao's study with a bundle of bamboo slips, and said with a happy face: "Lord, happy event, happy event, Your Majesty just received the visit, and a rumor suddenly appeared in Jizhou, saying that it was the general staff under Yuan Benchu's command, because he was dissatisfied that Yuan Benchu did not let him take over Tian Feng's Jizhou Don't Drive position, and intended to betray Yuan Shao's team, ready to take advantage of the opportunity of Yuan Shao to let him lead the army to stay in Yecheng, and dedicate Jizhou to Cao Ying!" ”

"Is that really the case?" Deputy Director Tao asked in surprise.

"Absolutely." Liu Ye nodded vigorously and replied: "More than one of our soldiers has made such a report on this matter, Ye suspects that this may be Cao Ying's discord plan to annihilate the thief, the trial is the head of the Jizhou clan, and the clan has a wide range of soldiers, once Yuan Shao is suspicious of the trial, there will inevitably be a suspicion inside, which will then help Cao Thief further sow discord and weaken Yuan Shao's team from the inside." ”

Speaking of this, Liu Ye hurriedly added: "Of course, because the trial match is Yuan Shanggongzi's henchman, it cannot be ruled out that it is a rumor spread by Yuan Tan's faction." However, Ye thinks that Cao Ying is still the most likely, in order to resist Yuan Shao's southward movement, Cao Ying has begun to build fortifications in the area of Guandu, the only way for Yuan Shao to attack Xudu, which shows that Cao Ying is also preparing for a big battle with Yuan Shao. ”

"No matter who spreads the rumors, we can't afford to miss this opportunity." Deputy Director Tao waved his hand and ordered: "Mr. Ziyang, you immediately arrange for people to spread this rumor to the people of Xuzhou and Yanzhou, so that Lord Yue's fine work knows about it." Yuan Fang, you write a letter to my brother-in-law Yuan Shang, reminding him in my honor, and asking him to be careful that this is Yuan Tan's right-hand man who is using a trick to sow discord and frame him. ”

Liu Ye and Chen Ying agreed together, and then Liu Ye hurriedly took the order and left, Chen Ying picked up the silk pen to make a book, and when Liu Ye left, Deputy Director Tao first coughed, and then suddenly shouted: "Cao Hong." ”

"The end will be."

Behind the screen in the corner stood Cao Hong, the old lackey of the old Tao family and the general of the Xuzhou internal guard who specialized in doing dirty things for Deputy Director Tao, promised to clasp his fists and salute Deputy Director Tao, but Deputy Director Tao did not speak to Cao Hong, but turned to Chen Ying and instructed: "Yuan Fang, don't be busy writing that letter first, look at the official document brought by General Cao, can you imitate the handwriting on the official document?" ”

Chen Ying, who was appointed as the secretary by Deputy Director Tao because he was good at imitating other people's handwriting, agreed, Cao Hong had already silently opened the secret grid on the wall, found a silk from the secret grid, and held it in front of Chen Ying with both hands. ”

"Good." Deputy Director Tao nodded with satisfaction, thought for a moment and then ordered: "Then you imitate this handwriting, and write a letter to Cao Ying's thief in the honor of the Jizhou General Staff's judge, the content of which is to persuade Cao Ying's thief to take advantage of the emptiness on the southern line of Jizhou and quickly send troops to attack Jizhou, and the trial will definitely accept Cao Thief to take Jizhou according to the agreement." Warn Cao Thief again that the opportunity must not be lost, and if he loses it, once my father-in-law breaks through Yi Jing and returns to the south, Cao Thief will never have a chance to take Jizhou. ”

"What?!" Chen Ying, who was still very simple and honest, widened his eyes, and then looked at Cao Hong, who was silent next to him, Chen Ying suddenly came to his senses again, and exclaimed in a low voice: "My lord, could it be that the rumor that the trial matched colluded with Cao Thief to sacrifice Jizhou was spread by you who sent General Cao Hong to arrange for the internal guards to spread it?" ”

Deputy Director Tao and Cao Hong both laughed, and they both laughed extremely fiercely, and then Deputy Director Tao said with a smile: "Yuan Fang misunderstood, how can you suspect that it was me and General Cao who did it?" Didn't Mr. Ziyang say just now, this matter was not done by Cao Thief or Yuan Tan Pifu, your lord is a righteous man and a gentleman, how could he do such an unkind thing? ”

Poor Mr. Chen Ying smiled bitterly, there was nothing he could do with his rogue lord, Deputy Director Tao put away his smile, beckoned Cao Hong to the front, and whispered in Cao Hong's ear: "After Yuan Fang forged the letter, take the fake letter to Liyang, find a single guest in the inn and kill him, and then hide the letter on his body, disguise it as a robbery and murder." If it's not easy to get your hands dirty in the inn, you can do it on the roads outside the city, but remember to have the most reliable people available. ”

Cao Hong, who specialized in doing these immoral things for Deputy Director Tao, didn't speak, just nodded to show that he understood, and then bowed and retreated, and Deputy Director Tao started his head again, which had nothing good except bad water, and began to think about what else needed to be perfected in the poison plan, or where there were flaws and loopholes, and at the same time, Deputy Director Tao couldn't help but have such a thought, "If you pretend to be a judge and surrender to Cao Thief, what kind of effect will it have?" ”

After thinking for a while, Deputy Director Tao quickly made up his mind, and instructed Chen Ying again: "Yuan Fang, just write another letter in the handwriting and tone of the trial, or to the Cao thief, just say that the trial match can't stand Yuan Shao's suspicion and meanness, and wants to take advantage of the opportunity of Yuan Shao's main force to go north, and act as an internal agent to send Jizhou to Cao Boss - by the way, warn Cao thief in a trial tone, even if Cao thief doesn't dare to take the initiative to start a war with Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao will definitely be the first to attack him after returning to the south!" Instead of being beaten passively, the Cao thief should take the initiative and stab Yuan Shao first! ”

"Cao Thief is incomparable, not inferior to the lord, I'm afraid he won't be tricked, right?" Chen Ying asked with some concern.

"Don't compare me with Cao Thief, am I as vicious and vicious as him?" Deputy Director Tao complained dissatisfiedly, and said with a smile: "Also, there is no need for Cao Thief to believe in the trial and surrender, it is enough for Cao Thief to see this letter." ”

"Is it enough to see this letter?" Chen Ying was a little surprised.

"Yes, that's enough." Deputy Director Tao nodded, and said slowly: "With Cao Thief's deception and suspicion, even if I don't believe this letter, I must take precautions and make a move, and if Cao Thief makes a move, I will have a chance." ”

……………… Because he knew that it would be difficult for him to be tricked by Cao Boss's deception, when Deputy Director Tao sent the internal guard to deliver the letter to Cao Boss, he did not kill innocents indiscriminately again, and threw the forged trial letter directly in front of Cao Hong's henchman Cao Hong's door at night - Originally, the Xuzhou spies under Cao Hong's command wanted to throw it directly in front of the gate of Cao Boss's Prime Minister's Mansion, but Cao Boss's enemies were too many, even in the middle of the night, there were a large number of soldiers guarding it, and there was almost no chance to get close without being exposed. So the Xuzhou spies also picked the notoriously stingy General Cao Hong - in order to save expenses, General Cao Hong was too guarded to ask for money, but he was reluctant to light the lantern at the gate.

By the way, the Xuzhou spy on the mission is also quite smart, in order to explain the reason why he threw the letter in front of Cao Hong's door, he added a crooked sentence on the envelope - I am afraid that the prime minister will be suspicious and harmful, and the villain is afraid of death, so he dared to ask the general to forward it to the prime minister.

No matter how inferior the means of sending letters by the Xuzhou spies, when the family sent the found letter to General Cao Hong, after reading the contents of the letter and seeing the forged seal of the Jizhou General Shogunate, General Cao Hong still did not dare to slack off in the slightest, and hurriedly went to the Prime Minister's Mansion to transfer the letter to Boss Cao. It's a pity that when Boss Cao read the letter, General Cao Hong not only didn't get any rewards or praises, but also received a scolding from Boss Cao, "Idiot! What is the credibility of such an unknown letter? I even dared to send it to disturb Yu Wu, it's just stupid! ”

General Cao Hong hung his head and began to regret that he was meddling—he knew that he should have taken this letter to wipe his ass. Xun Yu over there quietly got the letter from Boss Cao, and after reading it carefully for a long time, Xun Yu, who had been an accomplice under the command of Yuan Sangong, raised his head and said very gently: "Ming Gong, it is the handwriting of the trial, although it cannot be ruled out that it is a forgery, but it may indeed be from the handwriting of Zhengnan." ”

"What if it's a handwriting? Is the trial likely to surrender to us? Boss Cao snorted coldly, but the black hand involuntarily picked up the envelope, looked at the words on the envelope, and said secretly in his heart: "It makes sense, I can't easily believe in the trial and ask for surrender, and the messenger can't answer correctly, either the head falls to the ground, or the prison squats for a lifetime." ”

At this time, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, Xun You, Mao Jue and Man Zhong and other strategists present also took turns to read the letter, but after reading it, these resourceful strategists were silent, and no one rushed to express their opinions, after a long time, Guo Jia coughed and said: "Regardless of the truth of the letter, but there is a sentence in the letter that is very right - after Yuan Shao eliminated Gongsun Zan and returned to the south, our army will inevitably bear the brunt of the attack....... ”

After Guo Jia coughed and finished speaking, the council fell into silence again, and after a long time, Xun Yucai, who had always been hearty and chic, said in a slur manner: "Mr. Fengxiao's words are ......, extremely true, not to mention that Yuan Shao is dissatisfied with the lord's presiding over the government, and has deep contradictions with the lord, and has a son-in-law with Tao Ying's thief, that is, from a geographical point of view, our army must also be Yuan Shao's first target in the south, Yuan Shao is no matter how confused he is, it is impossible to bypass Yanzhou, and take Qingzhou and Langya, which are hungry and far away. Take a long detour to attack Tao Ying and destroy the thieves. ”

"Mr. Wenruo, didn't you start the war so soon?" Man Pet raised an objection and said: "Pet has been sent to Jizhou several times, knowing that Hebei has been fighting for many years, Yuan Shao's territory has been withered, the taxes are heavy, the people are overwhelmed, and the army is also exhausted, even if Yuan Shao wants to go south, at least he has to recuperate for a year or two." ”

"What if Yuan Shao disregards the people's livelihood and forcibly sends troops? Yuan Shaoke can definitely do such a thing. Xun Yu said in a deep voice: "In addition, according to our army's detailed report, this year, the five counties of Xuzhou are ripe, the grain is harvested, and the Jiulishan iron mine in Xiapi has also increased a large number of manpower, and 16 new mines have been opened to mine pig iron in large quantities, but the price of grain and iron in the territory has not fallen but risen, where have these grains and pig iron gone?" Isn't it secretly hoarded by pottery thieves to prepare for war or what? The pottery thieves are already preparing for a rainy day from so far away, preventing Yuan Shao from going south, if our army does not prepare in advance, and Yuan Shao suddenly sends troops to kill, it will be too late to regret it. ”

"Secretly prepare for war to prevent Yuan Shao from going south?" Boss Cao laughed, suddenly raised his voice again, and shouted, "I'm afraid I'm also ready to stab me in the back at all times, right?" This thief, I didn't cut him down in the first place, it's really the biggest mistake of my life! If it weren't for this deceitful thief who was always threatening my back, Yuan Shao, a fool with insufficient martial arts, even if there were millions of people, what would I have to fear? ”

Everyone present closed their mouths, Guo Jia simply lowered his head, only Boss Cao's secretary Sima Lang said cautiously: "Lord, why don't you try to separate Yuan Shao and Tao Thief again?" If we can succeed, all the problems of our army can be easily solved. ”

"Discord? Easy to say! Boss Cao shouted angrily: "With Tao Ying's cunning of that thief, I want to divide the relationship between him and his Yuan Shao, but I am afraid that he will be divided immediately!" Besides, Yuan Shao is not a fool, even if he succeeds, Yuan Shao will definitely force me to attack the pottery thief first, he hides behind his back and reaps the benefits! ”

Sima Lang didn't dare to speak, and Mao Jue next to him said carefully: "I don't know if the lord remembers?" Not long ago, our army also found out a news - Jizhou folk rumors, because Yuan Shao was dissatisfied with Yuan Shao did not appoint him as Jizhou's driver, and intended to defect from Jizhou to join our army. ”

"This rumor must have been spread by Yuan Tan Xiao'er, and it can't be true." Boss Cao waved his hand arbitrarily, and snorted coldly: "Judging and matching Yuan Shang, he is Yuan Shang's confidant, and he has Yuan Shao's trust to entrust him with the military of the southern front, Yuan Tan Xiao'er must be jealous and jealous, and it is not surprising to use this strategy to divide Yuan Shao and judge the two thieves." ”

"But my lord, what if this letter is true?" Mao Jue reminded unrelentingly: "If this book is really a trial, wouldn't the lord miss the heaven-sent opportunity to win Jizhou in one fell swoop?" ”

"Fart! Is there such a good thing in the world? Boss Cao, who was in a bad mood, cursed, "If I send troops to attack Jizhou, I will fall for tricks, and what ...... will be judged." ”

scolded here, but Boss Cao suddenly stopped, because Boss Cao suddenly remembered a major event - at present, the main force of Yuan Sangong's northern line, the southern line is not only empty of garrison, but also has a clear understanding of how many troops he has, even if the trial is really a fraudulent surrender, he sent troops to attack Yecheng, in fact, there is not much danger.

Seeing Boss Cao's expression, Guo Jia, who had been friends with Boss Cao for many years, also suddenly came to his senses, quickly picked up the letter again and read it carefully, then raised his head again, and said quickly: "Lord, if this letter is really done by trial, then it is impossible to judge and deceive - Yuan Shao's main force is on the northern front, and the southern line is empty and there are not many troops, so he deceived our army to take the initiative to attack Yecheng, and there is no strength to design and damage us hard." ”

Boss Cao kept his face calm and did not speak, and only after a long time did he take the letter from Guo Jia's hand and read it carefully, and Guo Jia was also confused, and said in a low voice: "My lord, why don't you send a secret envoy to take this book to make secret contact with the interrogator?" If it is true, it will benefit immensely, and if it is false, our army will have almost no loss. ”

Boss Cao's heart moved, first nodded, and then said in a low voice: "In addition to sending a secret envoy to contact with the trial, send another envoy to contact Tao Ying's thief, make an appointment with him, and ...... in the old place." ”

Speaking of this, Boss Cao changed his mind again and said: "In the public meeting in the border market between Xiaopei and Hulu, I and the pottery thief have not only been connected, but also have exchanged hostages, and there is no need to hide the meeting and talk, and the problem of negotiating the price of grain in the border market is declared to the outside world - this thief, the winter wheat in the five counties of Xuzhou is ripe, and he even dares to brazenly raise the price of grain in the border market by two percent!" I would like to ask him by the way, what good can my army do to him if it runs out of grain and grass during the decisive battle with Yuan Shao? ”

(To be continued)