Cao Hong, Cao Fu's father and son are not very good at fighting, it doesn't mean that they are stupid. The fact that they can make such a big business shows that their IQ is not low. This ability to observe faces and colors, smell the wind and distinguish tastes, that still exists. Otherwise, Cao Hong would not have wanted to marry his daughter to Wei Ba when the Han and Wei wars were endless.

Unlike Xiahou Hui, who was captured and married to Wei Ba, they are an investment. Although Zuihou Wei Ba refused to accept this marriage because he avoided suspicion, and instead made Guan Xing the son-in-law of the Cao family, for the Cao family, the business was still done. Who is Guan Xing, he is Wei Ba's brother-in-law, and now he holds the military power of Jingzhou, and he is one of Wei Ba's trusted cronies. He is also one of the representatives of the Shu Han Yuan subordinate lineage, and now he has boarded the big ship of Wei Ba, and his future is limitless. The Cao family's investment remains successful.

Because of this relationship, it is impossible for Cao Fu not to pay attention to the situation between the two countries, and he wants to reduce the risk of his own investment. Wei Ba himself is in the East China Sea, his father and brother are in Suiyang, Wei Feng's wife produces horse armor in Xiangyang, and after crossing the Yangtze River, it is Wei Ba's base camp, Guan Feng and Xiahou Hui are all in Jiangnan to take care of the family business for him, such a big pomp, what does Wei Ba want to do?

If Cao Fu was still a little hesitant, after listening to Mrs. Xi's words, he really understood.

forced Cao Rui to be a minister and find some further military exploits for Wei Ba. Regardless of whether Cao Rui was a real minister or a fake minister, as long as he agreed to negotiate, Wei Ba seized the initiative in the struggle with Zhuge Liang and Li Yan. If Cao Rui really agrees to go to the emperor and call him the king of Wei, Wei Ba has such a great credit, can he not be crowned a king? There are two kings with different surnames, Sun Quan and Cao Rui, why can't Wei Ba be crowned king?

Wei Ba now has the strength to be the king. What he wants to break through is just a name.

No matter what the result of Zuihou is, as long as the negotiations start and the negotiations are led by Wei Ba, Wei Ba will have the initiative, and his hard work will be rewarded. After talking for a while, even if Zuihou didn't negotiate, Wei Ba also bought time. For Cao Rui, sitting at the negotiation table will not have any substantial losses, on the contrary, he can get some respite.

became a minister and became a family. Then there will be no more hostilities. Horse armor can also be bought and sold. As for whether Cao Rui will turn his face after buying horse armor, whether the cavalry equipped with horse armor will be used to deal with the Hu people or the Han army. That's for later. Maybe he'll just give his name. Maybe he will die and fight back. It's all possible.

Cao Fu understood and left.

……

After Cao Fu left Xiangyang, he did not return to Luoyang immediately. On the contrary, he drove lightly, day and night, and rushed to Xiangguan, where he met Guan Xing on the grounds of visiting his sister. The two talked all night, and the next morning, Cao Fu left satisfied.

Thousands of miles back and forth, Cao Fu was tired like a dead dog, but he gained a lot. After he returned to Luoyang, he immediately dragged his father Cao Hong into the study.

After listening to Cao Fu's words, Cao Hong's eyes widened, and it took a long time before he said, "This shaft ...... What a big game. ”

"Not really." Cao Fu touched his thin face and said with a wry smile: "What does this mean to be the king, I think he may want to go further and sit in that seat directly." ”

"Whether you can go further depends on the strength of the strength." Cao Hongren became old and refined, quickly regained his composure, and said lightly: "Of course, when Emperor Wu just started his army, he didn't expect that there would be today. This person's heart must always match his strength, otherwise he will not end well. Yuan Shu's ambition was greater than his strength, and he died. Huangfu Song's strength is greater than his ambition, and as a result, he wasted a great opportunity in vain and gave away his life. Wei Ba has come to this point, he can't retreat, and it is not easy to enter. ”

Cao Fu nodded. He knew too well what Daddy meant. In the later years of Jian'an, even though Cao Cao had already grasped all the power with the respect of the prime minister, and was only one step away from the king of the world, how many people opposed him one after another, and even his villagers fought against him for the Han family. If it weren't for the fact that those struggles were so tragic that Cao Cao exhausted his mind, he wouldn't have died so early.

Now, Wei Ba has also embarked on this road, which is more difficult than Cao Cao, because there are powerful ministers like Zhuge Liang in front of him. However, Wei Ba also has his advantages, he is still young and has enough time to deploy, unlike Cao Cao, who did not realize that he had a chance until he was over half a hundred years old, and he had to go further, his strength was there, but his physical strength was insufficient.

"It is very necessary for you to go to Xiangguan." Cao Hong blinked his eyes and laughed mysteriously. "If I come back a few days earlier, I'm afraid there is no hope for this matter, but now, with Wu Qiujian's letter first, Bixia has calmed down for a few days, and the possibility of success is much higher."

Cao Fu was puzzled.

Cao Hong told him one thing. For now, the matter is a secret, limited to a very small number of people. About half a month ago, Cao Rui received a letter from Wu Qiu Jian again. Wu Qiu Jian has been captured for more than two months, of course, it is impossible to write a letter to Cao Rui freely, this letter, like the first letter, should be a letter with Wei Ba's permission or even instructions. However, Cao Rui saw a different flavor in this letter.

Wu Qiu Jian suggested that Cao Rui follow Sun Quan's example, proclaim himself a vassal to the Shu Han court, go to the emperor's title, and retain the prince. In order to persuade Cao Rui to accept this suggestion, he introduced Wei Ba's strategic intentions in detail, and strongly proved that Cao Wei's prospects were bleak, and if he resisted stubbornly, he would only destroy the country and extinct the species.

Zuihou, Wuqiu is frugal and thirsts for Cao Rui to accept negotiations, and like Wei Ba, he can use powerful force to expel Hu Lu, expedition overseas, expand territory, cloth the benevolence of the saint in the four fields, and declare the prestige of the Han Dynasty in thousands of miles.

No matter how gorgeous Wu Qiu Jian's words are and how earnest the meaning is, for Cao Rui, this letter only has two meanings: first, to persuade Cao Rui to surrender, and second, no matter whether Cao Rui surrenders or not, Wu Qiu Jian has already decided to surrender. This made Cao Rui furious, and it is said that he was so angry that he vomited blood and fainted to the ground. When he woke up, he was furious and ordered all his family members to be imprisoned.

However, after Cao Rui calmed down, he re-read Wuqiu Jian's letter several times, temporarily put aside the second meaning, and focused on studying the layout of Wei Ba described by Wu Qiu Jian, and he found that Wu Qiu Jian's suggestion was very realistic, and the prospect he described was not a point of possibility, on the contrary, it was very likely to become a reality. Regardless of whether the Han and Wei rivalries will allow the Hu people to take advantage of the situation, as far as the situation set up by Wei Ba is concerned, it seems that the Wei State has no haode countermeasures to break the situation.

After discussing with Jiang Ji and other close ministers, Cao Rui's attitude softened, accepted a suggestion to delay the army, and decided to negotiate with Shu Han first to gain a little respite. If he just went to the emperor's name and could keep all the actual benefits now, he would not rule out that it would be acceptable. Of course, if he was gradually devoured like Sun Quan, he would definitely not agree. In Cao Hong's opinion, Cao Rui actually wants to take a break, in the past few months, Wei has gone all out, and he himself is exhausted, and he needs time to adjust.

In this case, Cao Fu brought this news, which was a comfort to Cao Rui. At least there's a chance to get horse armor and a chance to fight back.

Cao Fu understood, and his eyebrows danced with joy. He went to Xiangguan just to get some accurate information from Guan Xing's sisters, and now it seems that the hard work is still worth it.

Cao Fu immediately asked to see the Son of Heaven and reported the results of his trip. Zuihou told Cao Rui that not to mention a hostile relationship, even if it was not a hostile relationship, it would be impossible for Xiangyang to supply Wei State horse armor now. Li Yan asked for 5,000 sets, Wei Yan needed 5,000 sets, Wei Ba needless to say, he must be the priority supply object, the current number is uncertain, about 10,000 sets, in addition, Zhuge Liang wants to increase the liliang of the forbidden army, about two or three thousand sets. The production task of Xiangyang Tiezuo has been scheduled for a year, and now even if the order from Wei is received, it is impossible to deliver it.

Cao Rui was shocked when he heard it. Li Yan, Wei Yan, and Wei Ba, aren't the 20,000 sets of horse armor all used to deal with the Wei State? Just like playing chess, Wei Ba laid out an overall situation, and he couldn't help but not drill into it. If Wei State does not buy horse armor, it will naturally be at an absolute disadvantage, and if it buys horse armor, it will only reduce the Liliang gap, and it is still in a disadvantageous position. In this case, it will not do Wei any good if it is hard-hitting.

The most haode way, of course, is to counterattack before Wei Ba's game is ready. Judging from the news that Cao Fuda heard, it will take a year for these horse armors to be fully in place. Seizing this time to fight back, maybe Wei still has a chance to live.

But the question is, does Wei have the strength to fight back?

In Wei Ba's three-way army, the sailors he led were in the East China Sea, and Wei had no strength to confront him at sea, so he could only be on the defensive passively. Judging from the western road, Li Yan used the terrain in the middle of the road as a cover, and without superior forces, it was impossible to enter the pass. If Li Yan gave priority to equipping horse armor, then Xiahou Ba and the others would only bring humiliation upon themselves when they entered the Guanzhong. The most likely is Yanzhou, for now, the gap in strength in this battlefield is the smallest, and it is also the most likely to win.

However, it is only a possibility, and there is no absolute certainty.

What worries Cao Rui even more is that even if this battlefield is won, it will not help the whole situation, but will make Sima Yi make a great contribution.

Negotiating, striving for a period of time, using this time, whether it is self-made or purchasing, before the Shu Han army is fully equipped with horse armor, it is a more feasible way to equip the Wei army with horse armor.

This may be a delaying tactic, or it may be a drink to quench your thirst. Wei Guo wants to use this time to breathe, and Wei Ba also wants to use this time to complete the layout, and who is beneficial to the Zuihou negotiation depends on who can use this time more effectively on both sides.

Perhaps, the greatest benefit of negotiations is not on the battlefield, but on the court. The truce between the Han and Wei sides will inevitably cause Zhuge Liang and Wei Ba to lose the goal of cooperation, and a greater conflict may break out between them. With the task of unifying the world about to be completed, Zhuge Liang may launch a counterattack against Wei Ba in advance, striving to eradicate this hidden danger before he dies.

Cao Rui thought about it for a long time and decided to accept the suggestion and send someone to Jiangling to contact Fei Yi, who had been staying there. At the same time, he sent a letter back to Wu Qiujian

(To be continued......)