Jia Xu covered her abdomen with her right hand, raised her left hand and reported with difficulty: "Maybe I just had a bad meal, and now I have unbearable abdominal pain and want to go out..."
"Wen He wants to go to the toilet, why don't you go quickly?" Cao Cao was convinced that Jia Xu was much more stable than Guo Jia. He usually lived in seclusion and should not suffer from serious diseases.
"Then I'll go and come back. I don't know why I suddenly had a seizure..." Jia Xu covered her belly with one hand and her buttocks with the other, and walked out quickly with her legs between her legs, pretending to be lifelike.
Xun Yu glanced at Jia Xu suspiciously, thinking to himself, you must not be a shit escaper, right?
Yesterday, many ministers accompanied Cao Cao to watch the execution. The military generals were used to seeing life and death and had no emotion at all. Among the civil servants, Mo Chengyu and Jia Xu had the best psychological quality. Jia Xu enjoyed the feast in the evening.
"Gongda, you once suggested to weaken first and then strengthen. Now that the main forces of the Guanxi tribes have been defeated, should we pacify Xiliang in one go, or attack Liu Bei or Sun Quan?" Cao Cao asked Xun You for advice again.
Xun You, as the strongest schemer in Cao's camp, often helped Cao Cao win with clever strategies on the battlefield, but his macro view was not as comprehensive as Jia Xu's.
Because he did not participate in the Battle of the Wei River, Xun You could only answer cautiously based on experience: "The situation in Xiliang is similar to that of Liaodong in the past. Ma Chao and Han Sui have deep roots there, so I suggest that we eliminate all evils, completely eliminate them, and never cause future troubles... "
"The Prime Minister killed the Ma Teng clan yesterday and ordered Xuchang to arrest and kill Han Sui's descendants. Their overwhelming hatred cannot be resolved. I also suggest sending troops to Yongliang..." Xun Yu added.
Although it was reasonable to kill Ma Han, Xun Yu believed that Cao Cao took action too early.
After hearing this, Cao Cao hesitated and asked Cheng Yu next to him, "Does Zhongde have any good ideas?"
At that time, fighting in Xinye and Hefei, Cheng Yu frightened Sun Quan with only 3,000 men, so he felt that Jiangdong was the real soft persimmon.
"I think Gongda is too cautious. Although the situation in Xiliang is similar to that of Liaodong in the past, the actual situation is quite different. How can Han Sui and Ma Chao be more influential than Yuan Shao? Now that General Xiahou is guarding Guanzhong, the prime minister should have free hands to deal with it. Sun Liu..." Cheng Yu analyzed.
Cao Cao nodded slightly and motioned for Cheng Yu to continue speaking.
Cheng Yu looked at Xun You and continued: "After the Battle of Chibi, the Prime Minister built warships and trained naval forces in the Huai River. Now that the warships and navy are ready, why not bring peace to the east of the Yangtze River?"
The two sides had different opinions, and Cao Cao couldn't make up his mind for a while. Just when Jia Xu walked in from outside the house, he smiled and apologized to everyone.
"Wen He, come quickly." Cao Cao raised his hand to greet him.
Jia Xu asked calmly: "Has the Prime Minister made a plan?"
"Gongda suggested pacifying Xiliang, and Zhongde suggested attacking Jiangdong. You won't let me attack Jingzhou alone, right?" Cao Cao asked jokingly.
Xun You interjected again and asked: "Wen He has followed the lord and returned from the battle on the Weishui River. Several of us are at the rear. We don't know the truth. You should tell us your opinion."
Jia Xu picked up his beard and said: "The prime minister has beaten all the tribes in Guanxi into losing their families. Although Ma Chao has the courage of a man, he is impulsive and lacks wisdom. I think there is nothing to worry about in the west. As for whether to attack Liu Bei or Sun Quan, the prime minister still needs to decide..."
Cao Cao thought to himself, "You old fox, no one in the court is more tactful than you." He then set the tone: "Wonderful talents are brave and resourceful, and all the generals in the country will help you. You will live up to my expectations, so we will follow Zhongde's words to fight." Head to Huainan."
Xun Yu hurriedly advised: "The Sun family has been in Jiangdong for three generations. Not only are they well-equipped with troops and food, but the Yangtze River is also dangerous. Prime Minister, it is better to attack Jingzhou from the south of Xiangyang, occupy the Yangtze River waterway and go down the river. Then Jiangdong will be at your fingertips."
Cheng Yu argued: "Our warships are all in Huaisi. Without the help of warships, we can only capture Jiangling. To deal with Guan Yu's Jiangxia navy, is it possible to find Sun Quan to borrow a way?"
"Wen Ruo still prepares money and food for the army."
Cao Cao's underlying meaning is very clear: What you said is very good, but don't say it anymore.
Xun Yu's face turned red with embarrassment, and he took out a piece of paper from his arms and handed it over, "Prime Minister, please take a look."
"Yangtze River Newspaper? Where did you get this article?" Cao Cao frowned and looked at the large piece of paper.
Xun Yu: "General Zixiao sent it from Xiangyang, and it was written on the paper that it was produced by the Lingling County Publishing House..."
Cao Cao finished browsing it quickly, and then handed it to Cheng Yu and Jia Xu. He said suspiciously: "What's the point of combining old information from various places? Who is the governor of Lingling County?"
"My name is Lantian, and my courtesy name is Ziyu. I am Liu Bei's confidant..." Xun Yu replied.
"Lan Ziyu? I seem to have heard this name somewhere, but I can't remember it..." Cao Cao shook his head.
Cheng Yu read the newspaper and then added: "What if the article wants to say that Liu Bei led troops to Sichuan and Jingzhou is empty now? It describes that the counties in Jingnan had a good harvest last year. As long as there is food, troops can be recruited..."
"Last year there was a severe drought in the south, and production was reduced everywhere. How can Jingnan have a good harvest? Besides, the population there is not large, so how much good harvest can there be?"
Although Xun Yu was responsible for Cao Cao's logistics, he was mainly in the role of general dispatcher and did not fully understand the actual situation in various places.
"The Art of War is full of lies and lies..." Cheng Yu continued to remind.
Cao Cao was suspicious by nature. After listening to the two people's analysis, he reached out to stop the conversation, "This must be Liu Bei's military advisor Zhuge Liang's plan to use these false and true intelligence to confuse the orphan. Otherwise, how could such an important thing be obtained by Zi Xiao?"
"According to the description of the scout who sent the letter, this Yangtze River Newspaper has an issue every two months, and each issue has to be produced in five to six hundred copies. The front-line editors paid a lot of money to buy it..." Xun Yu continued.
Cao Cao took the newspaper from Jia Xu and saw the date written in small characters in the upper right corner: the first issue of the 17th year of Jian'an.
He raised his head and closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then laughed loudly and said: "Hahaha, how can such a small schemer be able to hide it from Gu? I think Lan Ziyu wants to imitate Xu Zijiang, how dare an unknown person do a monthly review?"
Xu Shao's cousin Xu Jing likes to comment on township party figures, and he changes the topic every month. People in Runan call it "Yuedan Comment". Their comments on characters that do not pretend to be beautiful or conceal evil not only win themselves a good reputation, but also make the people they are talking about. The commentators are well-known all over the world, and even the appointment of officials are affected by the Yuedan Commentary.
People all over the world are eager to comment on Yue Dan. When Cao Cao failed to succeed, he was prompted by Sikong Qiaoxuan and went to Pingyu with generous gifts to ask for Xu Shao's comment.
But because Xu Shao didn't like Cao Cao, he asked the doorman to tell him that he was not at home, and used this reason to refuse to meet him.
At that time, Cao Cao also visited the thatched cottage three times like Liu Bei, and Xu Shao excused himself the first two times.
The last time Cao Cao forced his way through the door, Xu Shao, who was blocked, had no choice but to leave a comment: The son is a capable minister who governs the world, and he is also a traitor in troubled times.
With Xu Shao's words, Cao Cao became famous and was elected Xiaolian when he was just twenty years old.
Cao Cao held the Yangtze River newspaper and recalled that decades had passed in the blink of an eye. If it hadn't been for the humiliation in Chibi, the world might have been pacified by now.
As the saying goes, knowing shame and then being brave, Cao Cao's eyes became sharp, and then he said coldly: "I have decided to be alone, so I will follow Zhong De's words and attack Sun Quan first and then attack Liu Bei."
