After reading Zhou Yu's letter, Cao Cao couldn't help but laugh: "I thought that Lu Bu was a reckless man who repeatedly betrayed his master. I didn't expect a wise man like Zhou Lang to betray his master. It's really unexpected!"
Chen Jiao said: "Zhou Yu has an arrogant temperament, and he is a minister of Sun Ce's Tuogu. How can he betray his master easily? I'm afraid it's just a tactic to delay the attack."
Cao Cao stroked his beard and said with a smile: "Otherwise, if Zhou Lang really agreed to Jiang Qian's surrender, there must be some deception. Not only did he not surrender, but he also wanted Qingzhou to collapse, which shows that he was deeply disappointed in Sun Quan. He just used the strategy of driving away tigers and devouring wolves. I must go to Jiangnan!"
Then he wrote back to Zhou Yu, agreeing to exchange Guangling for Qingzhou, and also named Jiang Qian the governor of Qingzhou as a reward. When Xiahou Dun gathered troops from all over the country, he sent his troops south and attacked Jiangdong in one fell swoop.
With the rear area leveled, Cao Cao was determined and ordered the army to advance to the Huaibei camp.
Sima Yi led the generals to greet him. Cao Cao first inspected the three armies. When he saw that the water and land camps were very neat and the men and horses were strong, he couldn't help but nodded secretly.
Returning to the Central Army, Cao Cao praised Sima Yi face to face: "Zhongda was originally a literary man, but he has the ability to command troops, communicate by water and land, and advance and retreat in a controlled manner. Previously, he was overqualified and underused."
Cao Ren also praised: "Zhongda is not only knowledgeable, but also knows strategies well. If he had not seen through Lü Meng's tricks, Xuzhou would have been unprotected."
Cao Cao said with emotion: "Since Fengxiao passed away, Wenruo surrendered to Liu, and Jia Xu fled far away, I often felt that I was missing people around me who could conspire for great things. Fortunately, God gave Zhongda, who today worshiped me as a military advisor and offered wine to help him fight against rebellion and wipe out the south of the Yangtze River. .”
Sima Yi looked humble, lowered his head and did not dare to look directly at Cao Cao. He clasped his fists and said: "The king entrusts me, and my subordinates will do their best to save their lives."
"He is a truly loyal and kind man!" Cao Cao nodded slightly, asked about things in the camp, and discussed taking Shouchun again.
Sima Yi said: "Liu Qi arrived in Hefei and was recruiting troops and horses every day to win over people's hearts. He has no intention of sending troops yet. The Prime Minister took advantage of this moment to pacify Qingzhou first to avoid future troubles, and then go south with all his strength."
Cao Cao laughed and said, "Does Zhongda know why my army hasn't arrived yet? It's really about Qingzhou. That Zhou Lang has been persuaded by Jiang Gan to fight against Liu Qi with me!"
Sima Yi clasped his fists and said: "If Zhou Yu was worried about what happened in Jiangdong, he should have taken advantage of the situation and went south to rendezvous with Huainan soldiers and horses for revenge. Why bother to fight with General Xiahou? Jiangdong was undergoing drastic changes, but Zhou Yu stayed stationary in Qingzhou and delayed for a long time. There must be something hidden in it. He may even have been in contact with Liu Qi for a long time."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible!" Cao Cao waved his hand and said with a smile: "Liu Qi is planning to seize Jiangdong, Zhou Yu is disappointed with Sun Quan, and hates Liu Qi even more, how could it be possible..."
Halfway through, Cao Cao suddenly became suspicious. He gestured slightly and said, "Don't worry too much about this matter. You all have been tired of traveling and traveling all the way. You should rest your troops and horses first, and we will discuss the matter tomorrow."
After the generals retreated, Cao Cao immediately ordered Cao Chun: "Hurry up for eight hundred miles and report Yuan Rang as soon as possible. Be careful of Zhou Yu's deception."
…
In the Hefei camp, Huang Gai and Lu Xun were facing Liu Qi. After a period of rejection, the Jiangdong generals gradually accepted Liu Qi's existence.
During this period, Liu Qi implemented some new laws, from military camps to rewards, which were more fair and transparent than Soochow's original way of commanding troops through private troops, and gained the support of the Wu army.
In addition, a new workshop was set up in Ruxu to make repeating crossbows. Each general was equipped with one, which was amazing to hold in his hands. Today's repeating crossbows have eight rounds per crossbow, are light and flexible, and can be used with one hand. If you can control it, it's a great weapon.
In terms of public sentiment, as soon as a petition against Cao was circulated, the people of Huainan and Xuzhou were all excited and rushed to sign up to join the army. Not to mention whether they could take revenge, they only served as soldiers to eat food, and the rewards were generous, which was enough to attract the displaced people.
In addition, Lu Su and Zhuge Jin jointly implemented the Jingzhou New Deal, divided the land according to population, exempted from taxes for three years, and established farming in Huainan. This was something that was unthinkable in Jiangdong, which was controlled by aristocratic families.
Liu Qi had already established the precedent of Nanyang's Daxing, and the voice of reviving the Han Dynasty was getting louder and louder. Hearing that Cao Cao had led his troops to the south of the Yangtze River again, people who hid in various places came to submit to him. Some even migrated to the east of the Yangtze River and secretly crossed the river to the north, just for the sake of sharing. One-third of an acre of land.
On this day Huang Gai came to report that Yu Jin had led troops to capture Lukou, and was supported by the Gan and Ning navy. The Sun Fu brothers could not resist it at all, so they abandoned the Chaisang water stronghold and retreated to Nanchang, hoping to take advantage of the mountainous terrain to fight the Han army. deal with.
Liu Qi smiled coldly. The two brothers were nothing to worry about and could not stop the three famous generals from joining forces. However, Sun Yu from Lujiang had an ambiguous attitude and was still hesitating. However, the situation in Jiangnan had stabilized and it was time to prepare to send troops.
Just as he was about to write a letter to Zhuge Liang, he saw a man coming in from outside the tent and shouted: "Brother-in-law, you miss me so much."
Liu Qi looked up and saw his brother-in-law Xi Guan. He was a little surprised and said: "If you don't expand your business in Jiangnan at this time, why are you in front of the two armies?"
"Who is willing to come to Jiangbei in the cold weather?" Xi Guan rolled his eyes, sat aside and complained: "Brother-in-law, you have hurt me."
Liu Qi said in astonishment: "Where do you start talking about this?"
Xi Guan asked: "Brother-in-law, do you still remember the printing factory?"
Liu Qi slapped his forehead: "Speaking of this matter, I would like to ask, how is Xinghan Daily doing?"
"Okay, great!" Xi Guan clapped his hands and laughed, then sighed: "But it's also very painful."
Liu Qi shook his head and said with a smile: "Papermaking, stereotypes, and printing are indeed a waste of time, but they are utilitarian things. I will make you the first person to publish documents. You will be as famous as Cai Lun for generations. I don't know how many shortcuts you have taken. Why? Are you talking about bitterness?"
Xi Guan rubbed his brows and said: "I am not doing it for printing, but for your brother-in-law's "List of Gods"!"
Liu Qi frowned slightly: "Is it possible that the effect of that book is not good and it takes up too much space?"
In order to promote "Xinghan Daily", Liu Qi decided to serialize the list of gods and explain the general plot in an oral way. He asked Xiang Lang to find a few disciples to polish it and tell stories every month to attract popularity. Could it be that people in this era cannot accept the list of gods? ?
"On the contrary!" Xi Guan walked up to Liu Qi, stared at him and said slowly: "Do you know how many people in Xiangyang chase me on the street every day, asking for newspapers and asking for information about what happened next?"
Liu Qi smiled and said: "Wouldn't this be better?"
"Not good at all!" Xi Guan slammed the table and gritted his teeth: "Do you know how many rotten vegetables and rotten eggs are piled in front of my house every day?"
"Who is so bold?" Liu Qi snorted coldly: "You must be using your power to bully others and offend the people, right?"
"Isn't that the story that caused the commotion?" Xi Guan said angrily: "The manuscript is almost exhausted, so I have to reduce the number of words, from two thousand to five hundred words per article, and publish it every other month. It has already caused public outrage, and throwing it into the trash is not included. , the disciples in the library called me a great eunuch..."
"Okay, okay!" Liu Qi suddenly understood why Xi Guan rushed to the camp with a blushing face, and hurriedly pulled him to sit down, comforting him: "Don't worry, I will save the manuscript right away, and I will definitely maintain the quality and quantity in the future!"
Xi Guan looked at Liu Qi angrily: "This is what you said."
Liu Qi nodded seriously and said: "If you break your promise, I will eat all those rotten vegetable leaves and rotten eggs."
