Chapter 123 Xi Zhicai plans to defeat Guangling
Outside Dingtao City, looking at Lu Bu's army who rolled up their flags and fled, Cao Cao felt excited and felt a breath of bad breath.
Remembering that we were defeated in Puyang last year and almost lost our lives.
Fortunately, Lu Bu did not recognize him at that time and asked him where Cao Cao was.
In his haste and wisdom, he directly replied: Cao Cao is the one who rides the yellow horse.
Thanks to this wise saying, I could barely save my life, but imagine how miserable the defeat was in that battle.
But now, the situation has turned, and in an upright field battle, he defeated Lu Bu's army who came from afar to help.
It is a pity that the defenders in the city did not suffer any losses, and Dingtao City still cannot be attacked for the time being.
Just when Cao Cao was hesitating whether to give up and return to Juancheng or continue to besiege Dingtao, Xi Zhicai quietly came to his side.
The sound of coughing woke up Cao Cao. When he looked back, he saw that it was his confidant Xi Zhong.
Xi Zhong's surname is Xi, and his single name has the character Zhong and Zhicai, which means that he was Cao Cao's early confidant and think tank Xi Zhicai.
"Zhicai, the wind is just cold and you can't blow the wind. Why did you come out again?"
Cao Cao was very concerned about Xi Zhicai. If Xun Yu was his chief steward, Cheng Yu is his eyes, and Xi Zhicai is his wisdom and courage.
Cao Cao and Xi Zhicai hit it off immediately and had similar temperaments. They respected him very much and followed him in every possible way.
"Ming Gong, I am fine, I just have a slight cough."
Xi Zhicai himself was indifferent and walked up to Cao Cao and said: "Ming Gong, I'm afraid Liu Xuzhou has the ambition to go south to Guangling."
"Going south to Guangling? Is it reliable?"
Cao Cao was shocked and confirmed: "He has just captured Langya. How can he still have the energy to go south? Aren't he afraid that the Taishan army will be unstable? Moreover, even if he has this courage, where will his food come from?"
< br>"That's what I got from my analysis. I don't dare to say that it's a perfect solution, but...ahem."
Xi Zhi was halfway through his words when he started coughing violently again.
Cao Cao hurriedly helped him and said, "Sir, there is no need to say any more. Let's go back to the big tent first."
After returning to the Chinese army's tent, after drinking some hot soup, Xi Zhicai suppressed his cough and introduced him to Cao Cao. Get up: "Liu Xuande quickly defeated Langya and saved a lot of military rations. It is said that Zang Ba has surrendered and is willing to serve Liu Bei, so the Taishan army is no longer a threat."
Cao Cao frowned, his skin was already Dark, with a gloomy face at the moment, he looked like the bottom of a pot: "What about the food? Even if the Taishan Army surrenders, will he not have enough food to go to Guangling again?"
Although Guangling County is affiliated with Xuzhou, in fact, Its territory is very vast, and because of the dense water network and numerous rivers in the territory, the plain is cut into small pieces of terrain that are difficult to communicate with each other.
The core area represented by Guangling County and Guangling City is far away from Xuzhou, close to the Yangtze River, almost on the edge of Danyang County, Jiujiang County and Wu County. Instead, it is the same as the three counties of Yangzhou. The connection is closer.
Therefore, if you want to go south from Tancheng and enter Guangling, it is different from going north to Kaiyang. It is completely a matter of mobilizing troops and launching an expedition.
Without a large amount of food and grass savings, it is no different than committing suicide.
Xi Zhicai sighed: "Zang Ba, how can Xiao Jian of Ju County hold on? Liu Bei has the name of Fangbo of Xuzhou, and it depends on the rumors of the counties in Langya. There is only one Ju County, how can he dare? Resistance? According to detailed reports, after Ju County was besieged, Xiao Jian surrendered out of the city the next day and was sent to Tancheng. "
"Although this man is incompetent, he does not work hard for the people. The county has accumulated hundreds of thousands of grains in two years."
Xi Zhicai sighed with a wry smile: "After the opening of Ju County, Chen Yuanlong carried a large amount of grain from it onto the ship and sent it to Tancheng along the waterway. This was probably the food Xuzhou Army sent south to Guangling.”
"After Liu Bei won Langya, the garrison was not divided into different places. Instead, he continued to gather in Tancheng, expanded his subordinates, and trained day and night. He must have a plan."
"Looking at Xuzhou, only Zhong Guangling is the most tempting place for Liu Shijun. If you send troops at this time, you can take advantage of Yuan Shu, Liu Yao and others to restrain each other and be unable to interfere, and easily capture the counties of Guangling."
Cao Cao looked grim. He walked back and forth in the big tent, thinking about the hundreds of thousands of stones of grain. If this batch of grain belonged to him, he could sweep across the entire Yanzhou and kill all the rebels and traitors.
"No, we can't let Liu Da'er take Guangling so comfortably."
Cao Cao's small eyes narrowed, and he already had a plan in mind, but he still asked about the trick first. Zhicai said: "I want to stop Liu Xuande from going south. What can you teach me, sir?"
Xi Zhicai obviously had a plan, and when Cao Cao asked for advice, he replied without hesitation: "It can be a multi-pronged approach. Send agents along the way to take action, you can divide into Langya, spread the news that Yuan Tan wants to sweep across Qingzhou, and force Liu Xuzhou to divide his troops Langya. Branched out to Tancheng and spread false news that the Taishan Army was about to rebel. Finally, a sharp-tongued and loyal man went to Guo Gong and Yuan Shu to warn them. "
" Guo Gong? "
Cao Cao remembered that this man was the governor of Yuzhou whom the Liangzhou army worshiped. When Zhang Miao and Chen Gong joined forces with Lu Bu to attack Yanzhou, this man also led troops to rob and besiege Juan. Fortunately, Xun Wenruo rode alone to the city and persuaded the opponent to retreat.
Originally, Cao Cao thought that after quelling the rebellion of Lu Bu, Chen Gong, and Zhang Miao, he would go find trouble with him.
Now it seems that it can be recycled.
"Zhicai's plan coincides with Cao Cao's!"
Cao Cao was overjoyed and said: "You can let Zhongde take action, and he will succeed."
"You can make Zhongde envoy Guo Gong, prepared to say that Xuande wanted to attack Lu and Pei, and then went to Yuan Shu to inform him that Guangling was in danger. Everything is ready, Zhong has nothing to do.”
“Sure! Do it now.”
Cao Cao sneered and said: "Yuan Jiujiu has long regarded Xuzhou and Yuzhou as his possessions, but they were stolen by Liu Bei. He just happened to drive away the wolf and devour the tiger, so that the two of them can have a good fight."
< br>Xi Zhicai also nodded, thought for a moment, and added: "Ming Gong, can Zhongde go to Jiangdong again?"
Cao Cao was stunned for a moment, and his first reaction was to go so far. .
Then he quickly understood and stood up excitedly and clapped his hands: "Wonderful! Zhicai is really a great talent!"
Sun Jiajun and Liu Yao were in Niuzhu They have been facing each other for nearly a year. The two sides have made several attacks and have won and lost each other. However, strategically speaking, Liu Yao has won a complete victory, and the Sun family's army has never been able to cross the Yangtze River.
But whether it is Sun Jiajun or Liu Yao, the main forces and territories are concentrated in Liyang, Danyang and Wujun along the Yangtze River. Guangling is sandwiched between the three places, and it only takes a few days to reach any place.
It is expected that neither Yuan Shu, nor Sun Bi, Wu Jing, nor Liu Yao want Liu Bei to appear next to them, right?
The most critical person is Liu Yao. It turns out that Liu Yao stayed in Guangling to take refuge. When the news came that the imperial court represented Yangzhou as a herdsman, Yuan Shu welcomed it.
Yuan Jiujiu went against the norm at that time. Not only did he take the initiative to cut off his self-proclaimed position of Yangzhou Shepherd, but he also sent Wu Jing and Sun Bi to Guangling to meet Liu Yao, and then placed him in Qu'a and officially took office. Yangzhou animal husbandry.
Of course, Yuan Gongli is not a philanthropist. Otherwise, why didn't he just give up Li Yang, the governor of Yangzhou?
Yuan Shu's purpose is actually very clear, that is, he wants to take Liu Yao hostage to Yangzhou.
Okay, I am the Yangzhou Shepherd who performs my own duties. If the governors of various counties in Yangzhou disobey me, there is no problem.
You must recognize Liu Yao, the Zhou Mu who was officially removed by the imperial court, right?
If you don’t admit it, it means the imperial court is treasonous. I will conquer it with the king’s army and obey the laws of nature and people.
Yes, then just listen to me, Yuan Shu, and you can replace these governors without any bloodshed and replace them with your own cronies.
Yuan Shu's wishful thinking was so shrewd that the abacus beads almost fell into Liu Yao's face.
But he forgot that his reputation and credibility were already negative.
Since Yuan Shu raised his army, the only one with credibility was against Sun Wentai. Sun Jian was the only small warlord who suffered a defeat and ran to rely on Yuan Shu. Not only was he not annexed, but he was also supplemented by soldiers, food, grass and weapons.
How miserably other people died, Liu Yao took it as a lesson.
Liu Yao, who didn't think he could be Liu Wentai, was afraid, so he directly stabbed Yuan Shu in Qu'a, uniting a large number of powerful nobles who were afraid of Yuan Shu's crossing the river, and held on to the Yangtze River defense line.
But just because Liu Yao is afraid of Yuan Shu, it doesn't mean that Liu Yao can get close to you, Liu Bei.
Liu Yao himself also wanted to be a herdsman in Yangzhou, and he felt that the situation was excellent.
What if Liu Bei is not satisfied with taking Guangling and wants to intervene in Jiangdong? Liu Yao admits that he cannot carry an army of 30,000 across the river. Xi Zhicai saw this situation clearly, and at the same time grasped Liu Yao's mentality of using and guarding against Liu Bei, so he persuaded Cao Cao to let Cheng Yushun take him to Jiangdong.
There is no need to persuade Liu Yao to rebel, as long as Liu Yao guarantees that he can't defeat Jiangbei, the more than 10,000 elites of Sun Jiajun will be freed from the quagmire immediately, plus Yuan Shu's side There are 10,000 to 20,000 pro-army troops under the direct jurisdiction, as well as more than 10,000 Yuzhou soldiers and horses from Guo Gong.
The total number of these troops is fifty or sixty thousand. As long as the food can keep up, they can march into Guangling at any time. Such great pressure can immobilize Liu Bei in an instant.
Cao Cao did not expect to be able to hold off Liu Bei for long, as long as he could not get Guangling this year, he would be overjoyed.
When the Yanzhou incident is over next year, Cao Cao will be able to free up his hands. By then, Liu Bei, who is attacked from three or four directions, will never even think about taking Guangling.
Cao Cao immediately made a decision: "According to Sir's plan, please ask Zhongde to come and give instructions and set off as soon as possible."
************< br>
Liu Feng knew that he could not hesitate too much at this time, so after thinking over and over again, he decided to accept Mi Zeng's kindness.
Historically, my father didn’t actually like this little girl from the Mi family very much. It was purely because Xiapi was stolen by Lu Bu at that time. He counterattacked in Guangling and was defeated by Yuan Shu. He retreated to Haixi and the soldiers When she was almost in dire straits when her food supply was short, the Mi family used coercion to get her engaged.
Liu Bei, a hero, could not help but remember this incident fresh and regard it as a shame.
After Liu Bei abandoned his wife and son for the Nth time, Cao Cao helped him fight back to Xuzhou and killed Lu Bu.
After that, Cao Cao did a very strange thing, that is, in the name of the Xuchang court, he appointed Mi Zhu as the prefect of Ying County and his younger brother Mi Fang as the Prime Minister of Pengcheng. These are two thousand stones. Sheriff, the Mi family has never had a high-ranking official worth two thousand dan since ancient times.
Cao Cao gave two of them at one go and one to each of them. This was not just as simple as poaching.
It is very likely that the Mi family has become Cao Cao's "relatives" at this time, which is why Cao Cao made such a big investment and wanted to directly pry the Mi family away from Liu Bei.
From Cao Cao's perspective, it is not difficult to see how much the Mi family helped Liu Bei.
In this case, Liu Feng can only bear some heavy burdens on his father's behalf, which is at least much better than having the Mi family separated.
“Since Mr. Mi is valued by his father-in-law, Feng does not dare to take himself lightly, and is willing to treat him as a concubine.”
Liu Feng expressed his agreement. The other party just asked for a side room, which was as low-key and pragmatic as ever.
Not to mention that Liu Feng actually relied on the Mi family more than Liu Bei. In his economic territory, the Mi family was an extremely important part.
After receiving Liu Feng's personal approval, Mi Zeng's eyes showed a look of surprise. Sure enough, this bet was right.
Mi Zeng didn't know how important his family was to Liu Feng. Although he was a wise and understanding person, it was precisely because he was so understanding that he understood the low status of merchants.
He and his eldest son Mi Zhu have always been very clear-headed, and they want to take advantage of this troubled time and use billions of wealth as the key to exchange for an opportunity for a carp to jump over the dragon's gate.
Don't you hear that Xianyang of Dongguo boiled the salt of the world? Li Tong attached himself to Ji and established the foundation for several generations.
Dongguo Xianyang was a great businessman in the Western Han Dynasty. He was rich in salt and iron, but he was willing to develop a salt and iron franchise for Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. He became a powerful agricultural minister and ranked among the ninth ministers.
Li Tongze was a wealthy businessman in Nanyang in the late Western Han Dynasty, and his status was similar to that of the Mi family in Xuzhou.
He targeted the Liu Xiu brothers, and he did not hesitate to use his family's assets to help them. In the end, he succeeded and became one of the thirty-two people in Yuntai, winning the favor of Emperor Guangwu. He successively held prominent positions such as Weiwei, Dasinong, former general, Dasikong, etc., and was granted the title of Gushihou. He enjoyed glory and wealth, served as a high-ranking official, and retired with the country.
Isn’t this a true portrayal of my Mi family today?
How can our Mi family not be the second best to Li Tong?
"My young master will not give up. I am willing to show favor to my family, Mi. I am very grateful."
Mi Zeng stood up seriously and bowed to me: "I am willing to give you a dowry of 40 million yuan. "
"I don't dare to say goodbye."
Liu Fengzhuang returned to pay his respects, but the conversation suddenly changed: "It's just that there is something stuck in my throat, I don't know if I can express it quickly."< br>
Mi Zeng was stunned for a moment, and his heart couldn't help but tremble. He didn't think it would be a simple matter for Liu Feng to be so solemn.
But after hesitating for a moment, Mi Zeng knew that he could not refuse, so he could only say: "Young master, please speak frankly."
Liu Feng looked at Mi Zeng with admiration and said: " Rather than tens of millions of dollars in wealth, Feng hopes that Mr. Zeng can help.”
“As the saying goes, if there is an elder in a family, if there is a treasure, your decades of business experience and experience in coordinating the overall situation are the best. "My treasure."
Liu Feng said it very seriously, which was also a true reflection of his heart. At the same time, his title changed from Mr. Mi to Mr. Zeng without saying a word.
Liu Feng has made up his mind to start a big business in Qu County. At least the future salt industry center will be in Qu County, and maybe there will be an iron-making arms industry.
Such a large project cannot be helmed without an experienced, smooth, large-scale, and experienced business elite.
Originally, he was thinking about whether he could invite Mi Zhu to sit in this position, but he was worried that Mi Zhu would misunderstand him and think that he would be marginalized.
Now I meet Mi Zeng. This old man is not a simple man. It was in his hands that the Mi family reached its peak and was then handed over to Mi Zhu.
For such an extremely capable, firm and reliable old man, who can also increase the loyalty of the Mi family, it would be a waste to just leave him to take care of him in his old age.
"Old man?"
Mi Zeng was really surprised. He didn't expect that the other party would actually target him.
What use can a well-retired old man do?
Mi Zeng couldn't help but wonder if Liu Feng couldn't trust him and didn't believe that the Mi family could provide so much dowry?
But that’s not right. We have invested so much money and food before, so we shouldn’t still doubt the strength of the Mi family.
Does he really want me to take charge of things?
But how could he dare to leave such an important matter to himself?
Aren’t you afraid that the Mi family’s magpie nest will be occupied by doves?
While Mi Zeng was thinking wildly, Liu Feng solemnly said: "Mr. Zeng, if you firmly refuse, then I will have no choice but to go back and ask my father to recruit you to come out."
Is this serious?
Mi Zeng was finally moved, and her heart that had been dead started to beat again.
Just reading what Liu Feng narrated in the silk book has already made Mi Zeng shocked and yearning. If all these can come true by his own hands, how satisfying would it be?
This is probably what Dongguo Xianyang, Li Tong and others would rather abandon their families and careers to gain.
Mi Zeng looked at the young man in front of him, who looked at him seriously and longingly, with a sincere expression, and was finally moved by him.
“Since I am so favored by the young master, I don’t hesitate to bring out Uncle Fang to threaten me. What else can I say?”
Mi Zeng smiled bitterly and shook his head, but his heart was full of eagerness to try: "In this case, I can only obey my fate."
Liu Feng was overjoyed immediately and solemnly bowed down and said: "Old Zeng, in this case, from now on I will Thank you for your trouble."
Mi Zeng didn't dare to accept the courtesy and quickly stepped aside: "Young master, stay here, how can I deserve it?"
"You deserve it."
Liu Feng asked with a smile: "Mr. Zeng, I plan to find a suitable land near Qu County and do the first phase of development first. This land must meet three requirements. First, There must be a large number of beaches that can be transformed into salt fields. The more convenient the better. The second is to be hidden and preferably isolated from the outside world. The third is to be closer to Qu County. This can be relaxed appropriately. "
Mi Zeng was speechless after hearing this. How could he arouse himself so quickly?
But he was quite happy and soon fell into deep thought.
After a while, Mi Zeng opened his eyes: "I thought of a place, which happens to meet the young master's requirements."
Liu Feng was overjoyed when he heard this: "Old Zeng, this place is in Where? ”
“On Yuzhou Mountain Island”
Mi Zeng introduced: "This island is isolated offshore. There are very few original residents on the island, and most of them make a living by boiling salt and fishing. Therefore, the island is surrounded by tidal flats, and there is only one place where small sea boats can dock. In addition, there are no specialties on the island, so although it is opposite Qu County, there is little contact with each other. "
Liu Feng's eyes became brighter as he heard that there is a large beach and a small pier. In addition, there are few people, it is closed, there are no outsiders, and it is still alone overseas. This is simply a heaven-sent treasure.
(End of this chapter)