In Yanzhou in October, the autumn wind is bleak.
This year, there was a drought in Yanzhou, and food harvests were poor in various places, followed by a locust plague. As a result, there was no food everywhere in Yanzhou, and countless people went hungry. Fortunately, Cao Cao killed Zhang Miao, Wu Zi and others in early September and regained control of Yanzhou.
Without Lu Bu and Chen Gong, officials from all over Yanzhou were no match for Cao Cao.
As soon as Cao Cao arrived, Wangfeng returned and surrendered.
Therefore, Cao Cao was able to calm down the turmoil in Yanzhou in a short period of time.
In history, Cao Cao and Lu Bu fought in Yanzhou for more than a year, which made Yanzhou, which was already suffering from natural disasters, even more miserable. Now Yanzhou is also poor, but at least it has not been ravaged by Lu Bu.
For Cao Cao, the civil war in Yanzhou hindered his grand strategy and caused Cao Cao to lose the opportunity to capture Xuzhou.
However, there are also benefits.
In this civil war in Yanzhou, with the help of Lu Xuan, Lu Bu and Chen Gong were quickly wiped out. Cao Cao further eliminated the forces of the local wealthy families in Yanzhou such as Zhang Miao and Wu Zi. Yanzhou was completely in Cao Cao's hands.
It's just that Cao Cao has a headache now. Because of the severe drought in Yanzhou, the people of Yanzhou are short of food and clothing, and life is difficult. Although the phenomenon of cannibalism after the severe drought in Yanzhou will not occur in history, the people are really struggling.
Cao Cao has been busy with disaster relief during this period. While Cao Cao was thinking about food and disaster situations, Xun Yu hurried in, and Xi Zhicai also followed.
Cao Cao waved his hand for the two of them to sit down and asked, "You two come together, what can I do?"
Xun Yu replied: "Reporting to my lord, I have information about Lu Xuan in Xuzhou."
After hearing the information about Lu Xuan, Cao Cao cheered up and asked, "What's the specific situation?"
Xun Yu explained: "During Lu Xuan's attack on Xuzhou, Wu County was attacked by Wang Lang, the prefect of Kuaiji, and Danyang County was rebelled by Zu Lang, the commander of Shan Yue. However, he still defeated Liu Bei's army in Xuyi County, Xia Pi State, causing Liu Bei to panic. Run away.”
"When Lu Xuan and Liu Bei were fighting in Xuyi County, they arranged for Huang Zhong to quietly go north and seize Xiapi quietly. Liu Bei, who fled to Xiapi, threw himself into a trap and was directly captured by Huang Zhong."
"Lu Xuan arrived at Xiapi from the north and took control of Xiapi directly. This time Lu Xuan attacked Xuzhou and achieved an unprecedented victory. The key is that Lu Xuan also captured Liu Bei alive and captured all of Liu Bei's men."
hiss!
Cao Cao couldn't help but take a breath.
His cheap son-in-law's methods are really amazing. Under normal circumstances, the fighting in a war rarely ends quickly. Most of the fighting is a back-and-forth fight, which takes a long time.
Here Lu Xuan defeated Liu Bei like lightning and won the victory in Xuzhou.
Xi Zhicai lamented: "Lu Xuan's capture of the Xiapi Kingdom in Xuzhou, does it mean that the Pengcheng Kingdom in Xuzhou has also fallen?"
Xun Yu replied: "After Lu Xuan captured Xiapi, he sent Tiger General Huang Zhong north to the Pengcheng Kingdom and captured the Pengcheng Kingdom. And according to the latest intelligence, Huang Zhong sent troops to guard Xiaopei to prevent us from entering Xuzhou."
Cao Cao thought for a while and suddenly said: "There is a question at the moment. Liu Bei was captured alive by Lu Xuan. How did Lu Xuan deal with him? Where is Guan Yu, the tiger general under Liu Bei's command?"
Cao Cao has long been interested in Guan Yu.
During the battle of Hulao Pass, Cao Cao was thinking about Guan Yu, admired Guan Yu's character, and praised Guan Yu's strength.
Xun Yu replied: "There was also news about the treatment of the three brothers Liu Bei, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. The three became prisoners of Lu Xuan. In the end, Lu Xuan released Liu Bei and Zhang Fei, leaving Guan Yu."
"According to the news from Liu Bei, Lu Xuan threatened Guan Yu to surrender with the lives of Liu Bei and Zhang Fei in order to alienate the three brothers. Otherwise, Lu Xuan would kill Zhang Fei and Liu Bei."
"In the end, Guan Yu surrendered to Lu Xuan, and Liu Bei and Zhang Fei left Xiapi sadly."
Xun Yu explained: "The news we have received so far is that Liu Bei and his party entered Yanzhou. Although it is impossible to determine the movement, I believe that Liu Bei may come to Yanzhou to join the lord. Of course, he may also go north to Jizhou."
When Cao Cao heard this, he looked shocked and asked, "Guan Yu really surrendered to Lu Xuan?"
"yes!"
Xun Yu answered firmly.
Cao Cao raised his hand, slapped his thigh suddenly, and said with emotion: "Lu Xuan is really a thief. He is cruel and ruthless, and even used threats to accept Guan Yu. Doesn't he know that even if he accepts Guan Yu, he will Is it just the person who gets him, but not his heart?"
Xun Yu said: "Lord, this is not the point."
Cao Cao turned a deaf ear and continued: "It's a pity that Guan Yu secretly followed Lu Xuan, a dark-hearted boy. It would be great if I could capture Guan Yu. It would be good to follow Lu Xuan's method and get the person first. Get it. If you have someone, then slowly win over him."
Xun Yu's cheeks twitched.
He coughed twice and said: "My lord, Lu Xuan has captured Xuzhou and controlled Pengcheng Kingdom. This means that we have to send troops to capture Xuzhou, but it is not possible for the time being. In addition, Guan Yu, please give up." "
A flash of light flashed across Cao Cao's eyes and he said: "Guan Yu can't win over him, but the position of Pengcheng Kingdom is very critical. Do you really care about it? If it's a surprise attack, we also have a chance to capture Pengcheng Kingdom."
"You can't fall out with Lu Xuan."
Xun Yu looked serious and said firmly: "My lord has just stabilized Yanzhou, and turmoil cannot occur in the south. Therefore, as long as Lu Xuan does not take the initiative to invade Yanzhou, we and Lu Xuan will maintain the status quo and live in peace."
"In addition, Yanzhou is short of food."
"Lu Xuan's Yangzhou has good weather again this year, and Lujiang County has harvested a lot of grain. Under this premise, we still need to borrow grain from Lu Xuan and try to borrow grain for 'free'. If we can't borrow it, we can also buy grain. of."
"So the relationship between Lu Xuan and us is very critical at this stage."
Xun Yu said: "This is the general attitude of us and Lu Xuan at present. Please think again, my lord."
Cao Cao stroked his beard and thought for a while. His eyes were sharp and he said in a deep voice: "Lu Xuan really cannot be offended, so our focus must be further adjusted to accelerate development towards Guanzhong."
"Wen Ruo, you have a very good relationship with Zhong Yao. He has been serving in the imperial court and has a deep relationship with Guanzhong."
"We must rely on Zhong Yao."
"You hurry up and arrange the time. Ask Zhong Yao to provoke a fight between Li Jue and Guo Si as soon as possible and let them fight so that our focus can shift to Guanzhong. Even though Guanzhong lacks people, there are no big families in Guanzhong and there are no owners everywhere. The land is also conducive to our continuous military garrison."
Cao Cao said: "If you can't afford to offend Lu Xuan, seize the territory you can first."
Xun Yu nodded and said: "Please rest assured, my lord, Beizhi has been in contact with Zhong Yao. Moreover, we are fully supporting Zhong Yao and letting him organize the emperor's escape. We will send troops to welcome the emperor. As long as the emperor is respected, my lord will use the emperor's help." In the name of our country, we will sweep through Guanzhong and gather great righteousness."
Xi Zhicai nodded and said: "Guanzhong is just a plan for the time being. Although this is the focus of the future, today's Yuzhou is full of yellow scarves. We can also make arrangements early, but we must seize it early."
Cao Cao rubbed his tired face and sighed: "Having said this, I really want to rob Lu Xuan. He has enough food and grass, elite soldiers, and rich supplies. But our army has nothing to supply the army. There is a shortage of food. Comparing people to each other makes people angry."
Xun Yu comforted him and said, "My lord, take your time. However, this year's cold winter is difficult. I think we should decide on a candidate for asking Lu Xuan for food and go to Shu County to negotiate early."
Xi Zhicai took the initiative and said: "My lord, I have dealt with Lu Xuan in my humble position, and I am willing to go south again. This time, I will be more cautious and will not be plotted."
Cao Cao said: "It's hard work and talent."
Xi Zhicai shook his head and said: "A humble job is not hard work."
After discussing the matter, Xun Yu and Xi Zhi left. Cao Cao was still thinking about Lu Xuan, so he frowned. Lu Xuan put a lot of pressure on Cao Cao, but Cao Cao couldn't fall out with Lu Xuan, and he didn't have the confidence.
"Lu Xuan, when I win Guanzhong, have an emperor, and have a solid foundation, we will fight again."
Cao Cao muttered to himself.
He and Lu Xuan are Weng's sons-in-law, and they are also competitors in the competition. He, Cao Cao, has always refused to admit defeat, but now he is being overtaken by Lu Xuan at every turn, and Cao Cao is unwilling to do so.
