"The people of the Cai family?"

Xu Zhen asked with a serious face, then thought for a moment, and said: "I remember that Cai Mao used to be an old acquaintance with the lord, and he was an official in the same place, and then his own path was divided into two directions, and now Cai Mao is also the general of Jingzhou. ”

"That's right," Xu Zhen really has great powers, and he actually knows these things that he is indeed an old acquaintance with Cai Mao, but at that time, because Cai Mao's talent was not outstanding, but he was good at using conspiracy, and he was irritable and jealous, so Cao Cao never looked down on this person.

I haven't been in touch since.

But in the middle of this year, Jingzhou once sent someone to send a letter, which was written by Cai Mao, which did not say too much about collaborating with the enemy, nor did it leak information about Jingzhou's city defense, at first glance it looked like an ordinary letter of visit.

But he still said that Liu Biao was getting old and seriously ill, so that Cao Cao probably knew the current situation in Jingzhou, and combined with the letters from Xinye, the news could almost be read together.

Liu Biao is seriously ill, and the forces in Jingzhou are complicated, and in the next year or two, there will be gradual infighting and falling apart.

And Cao Cao was not gullible, and he had to send a lot of spies to gradually infiltrate Jingzhou to understand, but because he trusted the people recommended by Xu Zhen, he believed it.

replied to Cai Mao, and sent someone to send it to the post envoy, which was also an ordinary letter reminiscing about the past, but it was not planned that Cai Mao would send a letter to the Prime Minister of Xudu's mansion.

This time, after a few months, he received a gift from Cai Mao secretly, and there were some anecdotes about the land of Jingzhou, and they had slowly started a kind of courtesy conversation with each other, so Cao Cao could get a lot of news in the letters.

"Do you still know Cai Mao? Do you know what this person is capable of? ”

Cao Cao wanted to know Xu Zhen's evaluation of him, at least in the past ten years, he had worked under his command for the past ten years, and the talents that Xu Zhen valued or recommended were very good in terms of ability and conduct.

The people he chose by himself are all talented in civil and military affairs, which is enough to show that Xu Zhen's vision is not available to ordinary people.

Xu Zhen was speechless, but still nodded and said: "This person is good, although he is incompetent, but he has always led troops over the years, and fought with Jiangdong, and used the water army to fight against Sun Ce's revenge soldiers and horses, so he has rich experience in the water army, even if he is invincible Jiangdong, but he knows how to fight with them without falling behind, even if he loses, he will not be defeated." ”

In this way, he is already talking again, Xu Zhen does not dare to say a word about the Jiangdong water war in the future, if he asks the lord to act carefully and pay attention to the water army in advance, it is inevitable that he will be crowned with a crime of disturbing the morale of the army in the future.

And even if I say it now, in the state of Boss Cao, I really feel that I don't know how to lose, and I won't necessarily listen to it, so saying it is nothing more than a judgment here.

It's okay if you can't say it, but you're just being ridiculed for being cautious by nature.

But if he is right, Boss Cao's prestige will be damaged in the future, and sooner or later he will still be resentful, this kind of thankless thing, Xu Zhen doesn't want to do.

Then, the so-called exhortation can only be a careful fire attack when it gathers into an iron cable, and only at that time can it be possible to make him pay attention to it.

"Well, this is to the point, it seems that you know a lot about the generals in the south, Wenchen and strategists, and over the years, you have collected information about Jingzhou early, right?"

Taking advantage of this opportunity, since there is no longer the ambition to talk about small talk, it is necessary to ask clearly, Xu Zhen obviously paid attention to this place in Jingzhou early, and it should be expected that after many years, sooner or later he will go south to fight them.

Xu Zhen smiled indifferently and said: "The lord may have forgotten that my general Huang Hansheng is from Jingzhou, who has been a partial general in Jingzhou for many years, and has traveled to many cities as a defender, but none of them have been reused. ”

"However, even this does not prevent him from knowing the famous generals and hermits in Jingzhou, and his Chinese Ping, Liu Pan, Huang Zu and others are all extremely brave and fierce generals."

"There are also Xing Daorong, Huo Jun, plus Cai Mao and Zhang Yun in the water army."

"Wenchen also has a lot of Confucian scholars and celebrities in Jiangzuo, Wenhui is romantic, and the scheming continues, so that millions of people can be stabilized and the land of Jingzhou prosperous, not to mention, now there is Liu Bei attached, Guan Zhang and the two, the lord should know."

"Yes, Yun Chang is also an enemy, but it's a pity that he couldn't be attached to me at the beginning, his people are righteous, but it's a pity that this general is talented, he can bring at least 200,000 soldiers, but he is a rare general."

Xu Zhen glanced at him, "Don't love him too much, he won't be obedient." ”

"I know that."

Cao Cao sighed.

"Among the Wenchen, Kuai Liang, Kuai Yue, Ma brothers, and many hermits in Jingzhou, among Jingxiang, there is a person with extremely high resourcefulness, who knows strategy, is the son of Pang Shi, and has been taught by Sima Hui, Pang Degong and others, and his reputation has risen, and he is called a phoenix."

"This person, once he leads the army for a few years, what he has learned can be put to great use, and he will gradually integrate theory with practice and go to the next level."

"Contact what?"

Cao Cao blinked and asked, stunned when he heard this.

"Tsk," Xu Zhen thought for a moment and changed his words: "With the unity of knowledge and action, what you have learned will become more and more profound." ”

"Oh......" Cao Cao suddenly realized, "the unity of knowledge and action......"

He pondered for a moment, and looked at Xu Zhen with a lot of surprise, this kid could actually say such profound words?

After all, what is learned in the book is only the knowledge of the predecessors, and it is necessary to personally implement it to know all kinds of difficulties, and then summarize what the book says, so the income belongs to yourself.

This is not as simple as a strategy, but the truth learned, which is very powerful.

Cao Cao found that he could still learn from Xu Bowen after a deep conversation this night? Those who are good in the world come first, and do not respect the old and the young.

It was because of talking to Xu Zhen that Cao Cao suddenly felt extremely useful, and he was a little reluctant to leave so early, and what this kid said casually actually made a big sense in it.

Well...... No, he must have said it casually.

I am the one who really understands the truth, and in this way, I am the one who is deeply wise.

Xu Zhen continued: "If the lord wants to enter Jingzhou, he can't fight with these families outside, but he should let Cai Mao do it." ”

"But in the letter, I promised him, if the Cai family can become the lord of Jingzhou, support Liu Biao's child Liu Cong to ascend to the throne, and expel Liu Qi, then like Liaodong, please ask the Son of Heaven to issue an edict to let the Liu family Yongzhen Jingzhou without moving."

"There is a precedent in Liaodong, and they will inevitably have some trust."

Cao Cao's eyes suddenly lit up, here, this is what I want to hear!

"Oh?" Cao Cao smiled wickedly and approached Xu Zhen slightly, "Bowen thinks that Cai Mao will definitely seize power because of this?" ”

"They were going to seize power!" Xu Zhen immediately corrected, "And the lord has a letter at this time, there is no need to promise sincerely, just say casually, if you can settle Jingzhou at your fingertips, I can also protect the Liu family." ”

"Let them fight, if Cai Mao can get this letter, he will definitely redouble his efforts, work harder, fight the major families, and when he is in power, even if the many generals in Jingzhou are brave, they will all be under the command of the lord!"

"If it fails, there is no harm at all, and it will be attacked anyway."

Xu Zhen said sincerely.

If this plan is regarded as a transaction, then Cao Cao's capital is a letter.

Even the edict of the Son of Heaven can't be counted, after all, whether to give it or not depends on his mood.

If you want to regret Cai Mao, there is no way, you can only scold a few words in the bed in the dead of night, and when you go out of the mansion and see the light of day, you don't have to be happy with Cao Cao, and you don't dare to say a heavy word at will.

Cao Cao pondered for a long time, and naturally had some feelings for this plan in his heart, and it happened that Dian Wei stepped into the door and just stopped him, "Ah Wei, go and invite Fengxiao to come over for me." ”

Xu Zhen suddenly pulled a hand, "Forget it, let's go directly to his house." ”

"It's fine."

Cao Cao nodded suddenly.

Dian Wei was stunned for a moment, "What about the food prepared by the cook?" ”

Xu Zhen winked at him and said, "Go pack it and take it to Brother Fengxiao's house together." ”

"Huh."

"Bowen, why are you so picky now? Why don't you break the vows, I'll give you some private rewards and give you tens of thousands of gold? Cao Cao teased with a smile.

Xu Zhen's heart moved, the ten-year period has arrived, why don't you give up being honest?

If you have less self-discipline, you can give out rewards.

Ten years of insisting on honesty, never greedy for ink, how many rewards you get, this is the character of a lifetime!

But at this moment, I suddenly remembered the story of Peng Zu again.

In the myth, Peng Zu lived for 800 years, how much less reward did he have for breaking the ring, and he couldn't sell his name to learn from Peng Zu, just 800 years, which was not enough at all.

If you break the ring in ten years, you have to save it for another ten years, in case the reward mechanism is how many years you are honest, you can reward how many years of life, isn't it a big loss?

"Don't, don't ......" Xu Zhen shook his head like a rattle, closed his eyes and said cleanly: "Don't defile my body, money is something outside the body, Bowen don't want it, Bowen don't want it." ”

"Tsk," Cao Cao got up with his hands behind his back and leaned back.

It's like chanting.

Dian Wei heard this not far away, and immediately shook his head helplessly, too stubborn, what's wrong with taking some.

"When you say this, the dog shakes his head." Cao Cao laughed and sighed.

turned around and glanced at Dian Wei, who was shaking his head, and the scene was quiet for a while.

Dian Wei: "Tsk......"

……

At night, inside Guo Jia's mansion.

Cao Cao wrote a reply to Cai Mao here, still decorated with words, as if as usual to inform Xu Du of some common things now, and said some words lamenting the separation of the world.

In the end, in the words of emotion for the feelings of the year, a few words of expectation for Cai Mao were added.

It is clearly said that if he can be in charge of Jingzhou, he can get wealth and glory, which is a great achievement, and he can be knighted and promoted to the public in the future, so that the Han Dynasty can return to unification.

"It's a pity that now each is its own master, and there is a Liu lord."

Cao Cao deliberately added this sentence.

After Guo Jia finished writing, he immediately exclaimed, "This sentence is the most important." ”

"Alas, there are all Liu lords, but the lord is the Son of Heaven, what he does is nothing more than a mere royal family, if Cai Mao himself compares, you can hear that after the Han Dynasty, he is also a courtier under the command of the Son of Heaven, how dare Liu Biao hate him, even if Liu Biao hates him, the ancestors of the Liu family will not blame him, and this is not considered to be a betrayal of the Lord for glory."

"After all, the Son of Heaven is still Liu Biao's nephew."

"If Liu Biao's heirs are too angry and scolded, then they can hype up Liu Biao's family to rebel and control the mouths of the people."

Cao Cao smiled and said nothing, there were not many outsiders in Guo Jia's house at the moment, and it didn't hurt to say these words.

"Send a message."

Cao Cao gave the order simply and clearly, and a guard sent the letter out.

And this night, he drank with Dian Wei, Guo Jia and others, and then discussed the general trend of the world, and talked heart-to-heart.

After Xu Zhen ate, he went to Guo Jia's study to read, and then went to bed early.

……

It is now the ninth year of Jian'an.

After the spring farming, the Central Plains is settled, and there is no more chaos.

Liaodong in the north stuck to the frontier, Youzhou returned to tranquility, Jizhou and Bingzhou traded and transported grain, stationed heavy troops, and rebuilt many cities in Bingzhou, so that the princes outside the Guanwai, especially the Xiliang cavalry, had no chance to peep.

Everything is pretty solid.

Even, Cao Cao didn't have to use too many Xu Zhen's soldiers and horses to go south, which was enough to make heavy troops stationed at various passes to prevent sneak attacks from the rear.

He has the capital to fight on two fronts, and he deserves to be the first prince in the world.

As a result, Cao's soldiers and horses began to gradually move closer to the south, close to Anding County, and gradually implemented it based on Wancheng.

At this time, Jingzhou showed some internal troubles.

Liu Biao is getting older, and he often lies on the hospital bed, although he is not yet terminally ill, but many medical officers cannot cure his old diseases.

It is said that the short is one or two years, and the most is three or five years.

Although the number of years of life is not endless, the sickness should follow year after year.

So Liu Biao knew that the deadline was approaching, and he also began to prepare for the heir.

His eldest son, Liu Qi, is similar to him, has a good character, and has solid talents, Liu Biao has always been very optimistic.

But his wife Cai, because she gave birth to a boy Liu Cong, did not like Liu Qi, expressed her dislike in front of Liu Mian many times, and also said a lot of bad things about him, wanting Liu Biao to delay Liu Qi and hand over the throne to Liu Cong.

Liu Cong is only a few years old, and handing it over to him is equivalent to handing it over to the Cai family, so that they can grow up in Jingzhou.

In this situation, Liu Biao had long expected that it would become like this, and had tried to weigh the forces of various families before, but Jiangdong had come to attack many times, and Cai Mao and others had made a lot of achievements.

And we must not blatantly weaken the power of the military, and in our later years, we will not be able to do it.

Jingzhou, Xiangyang.

In the general's mansion in the inner city, Cai Mao received the letter in the private room, opened it happily, and after looking at it for a long time, a smile slowly appeared on her face.

said to his younger brother Cai He: "The prime minister is really interested. ”

There is also Kuai Yue present, this person is the same as Cai Mao, he is also a member of the Jingzhou Shi clan, the family reputation is outside, and he must not take half a wrong step, now that Liu Biao is sick and dead, they dare not be the enemy of Cao Cao at will.

Therefore, under discussion, it is necessary to support Liu Cong to take the throne, so that he can control it, and in the future, he can use Jingzhou to exchange with Cao Cao for the prosperity of the family, and his name will go down in history.

These days, when Cai Mao wrote these letters, he also wrote them in his private room, and consulted with his brothers in the clan and Kuai Yue.

The two of them are the pro-Cao faction that has been connected among the officials of Jingzhou, and they secretly intend to be friendly, and when the time is ripe, they will lead the crowd to vote to ensure the survival of the wang clan.

Now that Cao Cao's power is growing, it should be an opportunity, and he must not fight against the enemy, otherwise he will be attacked by the north and Jiangdong before and after.

Of course, they knew that Jingzhou and Jiangdong were feuds, and Sun Ce would never let go of these Jingzhou generals and the world.

Therefore, there is no alliance with Jiangdong to resist Cao Cao, so the best way is to surrender.

"Look, this is the Prime Minister's handwritten letter, and now it is not easy for me to discuss the relationship with the Prime Minister."

"The prime minister praised me, I have been in the battle formation of the navy for a long time, I have the style of the governor of the navy, and I am the pillar of the Han Dynasty, so how can I not be the master?" Cai Mao was sitting precariously with a serious face.

The person next to him suddenly fell into a deathly silence.

(End of chapter)