When the clerk heard Cao Cao's words, he quickly retreated.
After a while, I saw two scribes walking over.
The scribe on the left looks to be about forty years old, with a long beard under his chin, wearing a long gown, his brows are deeply furrowed, and he looks weathered.
The scribe on the right looks to be in his early twenties, wearing a brocade robe, looking like he is about to wake up, and is yawning.
However, he looks slender and handsome.
Cao Cao glanced at the two people, and his eyes fell on the scribe on the right.
he likes!
What he likes most is handsome people.
For example, Xun Yu.
For example, Cheng Yu.
Sure enough, people of the same species flock together and birds of a feather flock together!
Xun Yu was so handsome, and the talents he recommended were all handsome.
The two scribes came to the center of the hall, saluted Cao Cao who was standing in front of Xun Yu and said, "Xun You (Guo Jia) has seen Sikong!"
Cao Cao laughed a few times and said, "Okay!"
After saying that, he hurriedly motioned for the two of them to sit down.
Xun Yu pointed at Xun You and said to Cao Cao: "Mr. Cao, this is my nephew. He failed to plot to assassinate Dong Zhuo and was captured. He was later rescued. He was called up by the imperial court several times, but he did not take up his post. Recently, he wanted to go to Shu. The county went to take office, but there was a war in Bashu and the roads were blocked, so I was idle at home."
Xun You stood up and saluted Cao Cao.
Xun You then pointed to Guo Jia on the right and said: "His name is Guo Jia, whose courtesy name is Fengxiao. He is a branch of the Guo family of the Yingchuan family. He showed extraordinary talent in his early years and was conquered by Yuan Shao. He stayed with Yuan Shao for a while and felt that Yuan Shao If he is less resourceful and good at making decisions, he will resign and go into seclusion and study at home."
"Gong Cao, you wrote to me before and asked me to recommend great talents, so I asked them to come over."
Guo Jia yawned, stood up, and saluted Cao Cao.
Cao Cao looked at Xun You and Guo Jia with uncontrollable joy.
He who dared to assassinate Dong Zhuo was still alive, could refuse the imperial call several times, and could still go to Shu County to take up his post.
Absolute talent!
He thought about himself.
Cao Cao also had such an experience in his early years.
Moreover, this Xun You has deep eyes and light in his eyes. He is definitely a wise man.
As for Guo Jia.
Facing himself, he still looks so lazy.
Such people are either mentally inflexible or talented.
But who are Xun Yu and others?
How can you recommend someone with a weak brain?
Cao Cao took the letter from Cheng Yu and handed it to Xun You, saying: "It's like this, Gongda and Fengxiao, just now the new owner of Jiangdong sent merchants to bring me a large amount of grain and grass. What do you think the new owner of Jiangdong means?" ?”
Xun You took the letter, glanced at it, and handed it to Guo Jia.
After pondering for a moment, Xun You said: "We came here to besiege Yuan Shu."
Cao Cao's eyes lit up and he hurriedly asked: "How do you say that?"
Xun You said: "As early as when Sun Ce, the old lord of Jiangdong, was still alive, Duke Cao had already issued invitations to Lu Bu of Xuzhou and Sun Ce of Jiangdong, inviting them to encircle Yuan Shu."
"However, now that Sun Ce has been accidentally assassinated, the new master has taken over, and Cao Cao has not yet gone to war."
"The new master of Jiangdong couldn't wait any longer, and he calculated that Duke Cao was short of food, so he asked merchants to send a large amount of food and grass."
"It seems like he is expressing his feelings, but in reality he is urging Duke Cao to go on an expedition as soon as possible."
"The new master of Jiangdong should be planning to attack Lujiang."
"He needs you, Mr. Cao, to go out as soon as possible and put pressure on Yuan Shu from the north. Then, he can greatly reduce the pressure by taking Lujiang."
"This also shows that the new owner of Jiangdong is very ambitious."
"At least, he wanted to rule across the river."
"And if you want to divide the river and control it, the safest way is to control the Huaihe River area from Guangling County to Shouchun."
"As long as we control this area, no matter who is in power in the north, it will not be easy to go south to attack Jiangdong."
"As long as Jiangdong places heavy troops to guard Shouchun and Guangling, if the north wants to move south, it must capture these two cities."
"And Guangling is already in Jiangdong's hands, and it must be heavily guarded at this time."
"Jiangdong only needs to capture Shouchun."
"But Shouchun is still in the hands of Yuan Shu at this time. I heard that Yuan Shu is still building walls and hoarding grain in Shouchun."
"It's not easy to win. At least, Jiangdong can't do it for the time being. He has to rely on Sikong and Lu Bu."
"Therefore, Jiangdong can only settle for the second best, take Lujiang first, and eventually target Hefei."
"Hefei is the only way from Shouchun southward to Ruxu Port."
"If Jiangdong is to be ruled by dividing the river, it must control the enemies in the north north of Ruxu Port and prevent the enemies in the north from approaching the river."
"Although the river flows rapidly, there is a dry season every year. Even if the soldiers in the north are not used to water, they can cross the river during the dry season and have a chance to reach the mainland of Jiangdong."
"Therefore, the purpose of the new master of Jiangdong is very clear, to capture Lujiang as soon as possible and then Hefei."
"So, they would rather give up part of their food and grass and let Duke Cao send troops as soon as possible to attract Yuan Shu's attention."
Cao Cao hissed.
He hasn't even considered this!
This Xun Yu's nephew Xun You is too evil!
These analyzes are as if he personally visited the Jiangdong area!
Cao Cao stood up and asked Xun Yu to get the map and look at it according to Xun You's analysis.
You won’t know if you don’t look at it, but you will be shocked when you look at it.
It turned out to be exactly what Xun You said.
Cao Cao frowned.
The new owner of Jiangdong is obviously an unknown person, how could he be so ambitious?
Cao Cao looked at Xun You and said, "How do you think this new master of Jiangdong is better than Sun Ce? Should we go on an expedition immediately?"
Xun You said: "Yes, and must!"
"The other party is plotting. We must capture Yuan Shu as soon as possible."
"Now that the emperor is in Xudu, the imperial power only belongs to us in Xudu."
"But Yuan Shu proclaims himself emperor, which is already provoking the imperial power."
"The longer Yuan Shu delays here, the more doubts the world will have about the imperial power."
"The sooner Yuan Shu is eliminated and the imperial power of the world is concentrated in Xudu, the more advantageous it will be for us."
"Although I am a little unhappy, for the sake of imperial authority, we must send troops as soon as possible."
"However, we must capture Shouchun and cannot let Jiangdong snatch it away."
"Otherwise, once they capture Shouchun, there will be a line from Guangling to Shouchun. In the future, if we want to go south, we will have to spend several times or even dozens of times more troops."
Cao Cao breathed out and said: "Who is this new master of Jiangdong? He just took Jiangdong, and he is already planning to divide the river and rule it."
Guo Jia stood behind Cao Cao and said: "Compared with Sun Ce, this Jiangdong has found a bright master."
"Sun Ce and his like are light and unprepared, impatient and resourceful, but they are brave and brave. Death at the hands of villains is their fate."
"Although we haven't met the new master of Jiangdong yet, he was able to occupy Guangling and plot to capture Hefei. This shows that he has a long-term thinking. He is more terrifying than Lu Bu and Liu Biao. He will definitely be your formidable enemy in the future, Sikong."
"I also agree with Xun Gongda's opinion. We must send troops as soon as possible, and capture Shouchun forcefully. We will deploy heavy troops in Shouchun and even capture Hefei, leaving a possibility for us to go south in the future."
"besides--"
Guo Jia pointed to the Xuzhou area above Guangling and said, "Be careful here too."
"Since the new master of Jiangdong dares to plan Shouchun and Guangling areas, then he dares to plan Xuzhou."
"Once Xuzhou is captured by him, in the future, he can advance northward and retreat southward."
"As for Jiangdong, it is entirely possible for him to turn it into a place of food and grass supply."
"Jiangdong, which has been free of war all year round, is no less generous than Jizhou."
"When Jiangdong has abundant food and grass, no matter what it does, it will not surprise anyone."
Looking at Cao Cao, Guo Jia said: "If this is the case, even if Sikong has great ambitions, he can only fight across the river with them."
"Besides, it's absolutely dangerous here in Xudu."
"Once Sikong turns against Yuan Shao, then, at that time, Sikong will be in a dilemma."
"Sikong Northern Expedition, Jiangdong may surprise Xudu!"
"Sikong had to deploy heavy troops to defend Xudu."
"And if Yuan Shao can defeat Gongsun Zan, he will be unparalleled and powerful."
"Sikong Wei has tried his best to fight against him, so there is almost no chance of winning."
"Sikong marched south, Yuan Shao attacked from the north, Sikong could not stop him."
"If Sikong sticks to the Central Plains, he can only be cannibalized by Yuan Shao and Jiangdong and wait for death."
After listening to Xun You and Guo Jia's analysis, Cao Cao felt a toothache and said, "What should we do now?"
Guo Jiadao: "Since Jiangdong sends food and urges us to go on an expedition, we will follow their wishes. Send envoys to Jiangdong to represent the lord of Jiangdong as the Marquis of Wu and establish a good relationship with him. As long as he claims to be a Hanchen, we will be sure Take the initiative. If we act one step ahead of him, we may be able to take advantage of him."
"When Yuan Shu and Lu Bu are captured and Shouchun and Xuzhou are occupied respectively, then we will have a chance regardless of the Northern Expedition or the Southern Expedition."
After hearing what Guo Jia said, Cao Cao stared at the map.
After a while, he said: "Just do what Feng Xiao said!"
(End of chapter)
