"Wen He, it has been a long time since Cao Cao was defeated. What will happen in the Central Plains and Hebei?"
The problems of Sun Quan and Liu Bei were put aside for the time being, and the problem of Cao Cao immediately came to Liu Zhang's mind.
In fact, Liu Zhang was more concerned about what methods Cao Cao used to survive this extremely dangerous moment.
Jia Xu had long expected that Liu Zhang would have this question and immediately gave it up.
"King Qin, Cao Cao lost more than 200,000 elite troops and more than 100,000 civilians in this battle. His vitality has been severely damaged!"
"The most fatal thing among them is that all the Qingzhou soldiers that Cao Cao relies on to fight for hegemony have been lost!"
"Now the direct troops controlled by the Cao clan are less than 50,000!"
When Liu Zhang heard this number, he couldn't stop smiling at the corner of his mouth.
Fifty thousand, which seems like a lot, is probably Liu Bei's entire number of troops.
But Hebei, a land of seven states in the Central Plains, has more than hundreds of counties?
From this point of view, one city cannot even be divided into one hundred people!
"Are there any rebels? Are there anyone who rose up against Cao Cao's tyranny?"
Now is when Cao Cao is at his weakest. If someone openly rebels again, it will be the most fatal blow!
In history, after Cao Cao ascended the throne of Wei King so calmly, there were many rebellions.
Not to mention being so eager for quick success now!
Perhaps history will be overturned again.
In Liu Zhang's extremely expectant eyes, Jia Xu first showed a look of regret, and then shook his head helplessly.
It is clear that no substantial rebellion occurred.
It once again proves that things often backfire!
"King Qin, you will understand after you know how Cao Cao arranged it."
"Cao Cao appointed Chen Qun as the governor of Xuzhou, and Zang Ba, the governor of Xuzhou, to oversee the military affairs of the six counties of Xuzhou. He appointed Zhong Yao as the governor of Bingzhou, and the governor Wang Ling was the governor of the nine counties of Bingzhou. He also promoted Li Dian, the Li family of the Yanzhou family, to assist the governor of Yanzhou, Sima Lang, the governor of Yanzhou's military. "
Just as Jia Xu said, Liu Zhang not only understood it, but his eyes twitched when he heard it!
Cao Cao's move can really be described as the breaking of a strong man's wrist!
Zang Ba originally had a vassal relationship and had his own power.
This time, in order to quell possible civil strife in Xuzhou, all military power of the six counties in Xuzhou, except the lost Guangling County, was directly handed over to Zang Ba!
Wang Ling, a talented person from the Wang family, the top family in Bingzhou, is also the nephew of the former Situ Wang Yun.
Historically, after Sima Yi came to power, he had to win over the Wang family and promoted Wang Ling to the position of governor of Huainan.
This shows the power of the Bingzhou Wang family!
With Wang Ling in charge of Bingzhou, who among the young men would dare to make the slightest move?
Not to mention Li Dian!
Back then, Cao Cao and Lu Bu were fighting for dominance in Yanzhou. If Lu Bu hadn't used a cunning trick to kill Li Dian's uncle, causing the Li family to rise up, the final ownership of Yanzhou would still be open to question!
Furthermore, the Li family is a huge ethnic group, and there has always been an elite army.
However, after Cao Cao defeated Yuan Shao in Guandu, he was forced to disband and return to the countryside.
Now under Li Dian's call, this army will gather again.
Not to mention shocking the world, there is no problem in shocking Yanzhou.
This time, Cao Cao made a great sacrifice.
Cao Cao, who had always wanted to get rid of the control of the clan, had to make great compromises and concessions to the clan.
If you want to take back the rights you have released, it will be difficult!
Zang Ba in Xuzhou, Wang Ling in Bingzhou, and Li Dian in Yanzhou were all local snakes.
With Cao Cao's permission, he can develop his power unscrupulously.
Over time, it will become a disaster that cannot be eliminated!
But is this really the case?
What made Liu Zhang's eyes twitch was not Cao Cao's compromise with the clan, but the checks and balances Cao Cao used.
The military power was given to the noble families and vassals in various places, but the political power was divided.
Chen Qun and Zhong Yao are extremely capable. They can easily check and balance Zang Ba and Wang Ling.
Zhong Yao in history even stabilized the situation in Guanzhong with just one mouth.
Coupled with the status of Chen and Zhong from the Yingchuan family, they can kill two birds with one stone!
The Yingchuan aristocratic clan is inherently xenophobic and will definitely not unite with aristocratic clans from other places.
This immediately eliminated the hidden danger of releasing military power.
After a few years of delay, and the strength of Cao's army recovers, he can gradually take back the rights in various places.
Greatly promoting Chen Qun and Zhong Yao can also stabilize the hearts of the Yingchuan family and prevent the Xuchang court from causing trouble.
"Cao Cao is too narrow-minded to make such a choice! I guess it was Guo Jia's handiwork, right?"
Jia Xu nodded slightly, confirming Liu Zhang's doubts.
"King Qin, this is not over yet!"
"Cao Cao released all the generals of the Cao family and the Xiahou family."
"Among them, Cao Ren is guarding Nanyang County, Xiahou Dun is guarding Yingchuan County, Xiahou Yuan is in charge of Youzhou, Cao Hong is in charge of Sili, Cao Chun is in charge of Qingzhou, Cao Xiu and Xiahou Shang continue to stay on the border between Xuzhou and Yangzhou."
"Cao Cao sent basically all the direct troops out, and he led a small number of Chinese troops to sit in Yecheng."
After listening to Jia Xu's report on Cao Cao's arrangements, Liu Zhang only had four words in his mind.
Airtight!
Cao Cao's move almost shared all the crisis with the family!
Sili seems to be guarded by Cao Hong, but in fact it is in dilapidated condition and can be abandoned at any time.
Therefore, the place bordering Qin State was actually Bingzhou and Yanzhou, the place bordering Liu Bei was Jingzhou Nanyang County and Yuzhou, and the place bordering Sun Quan was Xuzhou.
These front-line battlefields were all defended by noble families from all over the country, and Cao Cao shrank the defense line to the rear!
In the face of attacks from external forces, how can the noble families from all over the world be willing to give up their rights?
It must be a desperate resistance!
"This Guo Fengxiao is really vicious, using noble families from various states as cannon fodder!"
"The traitor Cao A'hao is so ruthless. He really dares to let Guo Jia do whatever he wants without fear of being backlashed by the family!"
Liu Zhang cursed fiercely, but in fact he was more helpless.
Originally, I wanted to add fuel to Cao Cao's fire and make the situation even more confusing.
Now it seems that there is no chance!
"How long do you think it will take for Cao Cao to return to the level he was before he went south to Jingzhou?"
Before going south, he had 300,000 elite soldiers!
Jia Xu and the three looked at each other, but no one spoke first.
This is related to how much time Qin has.
Liu Zhang saw the three of them being humble to each other and looked at Xun You.
"Gongda, tell me!"
"To the King of Qin, I think Cao Cao will never think about it again in this life..."
Liu Zhang's eyes widened with an extremely puzzled expression.
If anyone else said this, he would be kicked out.
"Gongda, what does this mean?"
Xun You had long expected Liu Zhang's expression, so he explained in a leisurely manner.
"King Qin, the loss of hundreds of thousands of people is nothing to Cao Cao. If he is willing, he can make up for this number in a very short period of time!"
"But what was lost was the Qingzhou soldiers who had experienced hundreds of battles. If we want to train the newly recruited soldiers to the level of Qingzhou soldiers, it is not just a matter of time that can make up for it."
