Cao Pi drank the sobering soup, and after a while, he was better, rubbed his somewhat confused face, and said with a smile: "Drinking and making mistakes, the ancients did not deceive me!" ”

Sima Yi smiled slightly, and arched his hand: "Shizi, how are things?" ”

When Cao Pi heard this, he nodded with a smile and said, "I did what you said, and the two uncles had a good impression of me!" ”

When Sima Yi heard this, he nodded, and said with a smile: "The two generals are in high positions in the court, and now they are in trouble, the prince treats them so well, and in the future, the prince will ascend the throne, and they will help them wholeheartedly!" ”

When Cao Pi heard this, he nodded with a smile and said: "Zhongda is a skilled person, and I have insight into current affairs, I have Zhongda, but I don't have to worry about it!" ”

When Sima Yi heard this, he gave up his hand and said: "The son of the world is too famous!" ”

The two talked in the study until late at night.

Cao Ren's messenger hurried to the camp of Cao's army in Xiangfan and reported the incident of Wancheng to Cao Cao. Cao Cao was furious when he heard this, and the celadon bowl in his hand was thrown to the ground and torn apart.

"The prime minister is angry!" All the civil and military officers knelt on the ground and said in unison.

Cao Cao put one hand on his chest and one hand on the table, and after a while, his emotions calmed down slightly, closed his eyes, waved his hand, and said, "Get up!" ”

All the civil and military officers took the order and got up and sat down. Cao Cao handed over Cao Ren's battle report and let it be circulated by the civil and military forces in the tent. After a while, Cao Cao asked, "Let's talk about it!" What should I do about this? ”

For a long time, no one answered under the tent, Cao Cao sighed, thinking of Xun Yu and Guo Jia, if these two dukes were there, where would they be in today's embarrassment. After thinking about it, he raised his eyes and saw a figure, it was Jia Xu, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he hurriedly asked, "Wenhe, do you have a good plan?" ”

Jia Xu is seventy and two today, his hair is white, his complexion is not bad, he heard Cao Cao's question, attended, and arched his hand: "Prime Minister, Zhang Feishu's famous general, brave and resourceful, Liu Feng and Meng Da can also fight habitually, and most of their subordinates are veterans of a hundred battles, and they should not be underestimated." Wancheng is an important town in the Central Plains, where our army's grain road is, there is no room for loss, the reason why both battles were lost, one is that our army is partial to the north, and the troops are insufficient. Second, I'm afraid that the two generals underestimated the enemy. These two battles also exposed that the three counties of Shangyong are adjacent to the Sanfu Central Plains, which poses a great threat to our army and must be eliminated. Therefore, the minister suggested that the handwritten reprimand of Cao Ren and Cao Hong, and let them make meritorious contributions, join the soldiers of Hebei and Central Plains, gather tens of thousands of people, wave their troops to the west, recapture Wancheng, and force Shangyong. At the same time, he ordered the former military division Zhong Xuan to supervise the troops of Guanzhong to march eastward, and together with Cao Ren and Cao Hong, he attacked Shangyong, if he could occupy the three counties of Shangyong, not only sealed the passage for the Shu army to enter the Central Plains, but also condescended to threaten Shuzhong, so that our army could take the initiative. ”

When Cao Cao heard this, his brows stretched, his sad face was gone, and he said with a smile: "What Wen He said is in line with his will, it's time to teach Shu Jun a good lesson!" Then he stood up and said loudly: "Order Cao Ren to be the governor, Cao Hong as the deputy governor, and recruit 20,000 soldiers and horses from Xu Huang, Si Liwenpin, and Cao Xiu in Xuzhou, a total of 60,000, unified by Cao Ren and Cao Hong, and send troops to recapture Wancheng and move west to Shangyong." In addition, he ordered the former military division, the captain of the Shou Si Li, and the commander of the Guanzhong army, Zhong Xuan, the commander of the Guanzhong army, and the 40,000 soldiers and horses in Guanzhong waved the division south, and attacked Shangyong. ”

"No!" Several heralds held Fu Jie and Cao Cao's handwritten edicts, got out of the big tent, got on their horses and went out of the gate, all the way north, and parted ways.

Three days later, the herald arrived in Xudu and handed Cao Cao's edict to Cao Ren and Cao Hong, who were overjoyed and hurriedly ordered someone to entertain the herald. At the same time, after receiving Cao Cao's order, Xu Huang of Bingzhou, Si Li Wenpin, and Cao Xiu of Xuzhou gathered soldiers and horses, and in less than five days, the three-way army gathered under the city of Xudu.

Cao Ren held the talisman in his hand, stood high on the horse, and reviewed the three armies with Cao Hong, Xu Huang, Wen Ping, and Cao Xiu. ”

"Exterminate Shu Kou and take revenge!" Tens of thousands of soldiers drew their long swords one after another, pointing to the sky and swearing, and the sound shook Xu Du, which could be heard from miles away.

On the city of Xudu, Cao Pi sighed with a sad face, and said: "I didn't expect my father to make such a big move this time, and he actually mobilized the soldiers and horses of Sanzhou, and even the soldiers and horses of Si Li were also used, could it be that he wanted to destroy Shu in one fell swoop?" ”

When Sima Yi heard this, he shook his head with a smile, and said: "Now that Liu Bei is in charge of the country in Shuzhong, there are many generals and talents, how easy is it to destroy Shu now?" The prime minister's move is just in view of the painful lessons of the previous two times, and he wants to finish his work in one battle, recapture the three counties of Shangyong, and block the exit of the Shu army north into the Central Plains! ”

Hearing this, Cao Pi nodded, and said: "The three counties of Shangyong are adjacent to the Central Plains of Sanfu, which is a great threat to me, if this time we can cut off the Shu army of the three counties in one fell swoop, it will not be a good thing!" ”

When Sima Yi heard this, he shook his head with a smile and said: "Shizi, south of Shangyong is Langzhong, west of Hanzhong, and it is only a few days away from Chengdu, and Wei Yan in Hanzhong, Zhang Bao in Langzhong is also a stone's throw away, not to mention that there is still a general Zhang Fei in the three counties of Shangyong, how easy is it to win Shangyong?" ”

Hearing this, Cao Pi turned around, turned his back to the city wall, and asked in a low voice: "Then between you, what is the chance of winning this attack on Shangyong?" ”

When Sima Yi heard this, he shook his head and said, "Less than thirty percent!" ”

Cao Pi heard Sima Yi's answer, sighed, and said, "Father has been getting more and more losers recently!" ”

When Sima Yi heard this, he smiled but did not dare to answer.

Cao Ren finished his oath outside the city, said goodbye to Cao Pi and Xu Du Wenwu who came to see him off outside the city, and rushed to Wancheng with high spirits, the army marched rapidly, and in the evening of the next day, it had arrived at the outskirts of Wancheng.

Cao Ren looked at Wancheng from afar, squinted, sneered, and said, "Zhang Feipifu, Lao Tzu is back again!" ”

Before the words fell, he heard Cao Hong suddenly shout, pointing in the direction of Wancheng and saying, "Brother, look! ”

Cao Ren heard this, followed the direction of Cao Hong's finger and looked, but saw that the four cities of Wancheng suddenly thick smoke billowed out, Cao Ren was shocked, suddenly felt bad, and quickly ordered the whole army to speed up, the so-called "Wangshan ran dead horses", they were still not a short distance away from Wancheng at this time, and when they arrived at Wancheng, it had been half an hour, at this time Wancheng had become a sea of fire, Cao Ren saw this, patted his thigh, sighed, and said: "Hey, it's still a step late!" ”

Tens of thousands of soldiers of Cao's army took water from the Huancheng River to put out the fire, and it was not until midnight that the fire in the city was extinguished, and the water level in the Huancheng River dropped by half.

Cao Ren led the army into the city, and saw that there was no one in the city, let alone a corpse, but most of the shops along the street were burned down. The outpost came galloping quickly, and reported closely: "General Qiyu, it is an empty city, and there is no one in the city. ”

Cao Ren nodded, sighed, and said, "Nanyang County is empty!" Where does Zhang Feipifu look like a general, he is simply a bandit! ”

When the generals heard this, they were all silent.