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Xiahou Dun bowed and bowed again and said, "I am rude to the military advisor today, I hope the military advisor will forgive me."

"Nothing, I can understand the general's mood."

Seeing that Xiahou Dun wanted to speak but stopped, Xun You smiled and said, "General Xiahou might as well go to the tent to talk."

Xiahou Dun nodded and followed Xun You to the camp. The two walked into the camp. Several soldiers retreated. Xiahou Dun said worriedly: "At this point, I will not hide the military advisor anymore. I am not disagreeing with Liu Jing's conditions, but I am worried that I cannot explain to the prime minister. The officers have left and left tens of thousands of ordinary soldiers. This is not a general. From my original intention, I will never be a prisoner of war of the Han army. I would rather die in battle. But now the Han army does not fight with us, so we can only die of illness on the top of the city. This pair of soldiers is cruel."

Xun You smiled bitterly and said, "Actually, why am I willing? In order to protect Longxi, the Prime Minister did not hesitate to launch the Battle of Jingzhou. In the end, he paid heavy political conditions. But we failed the Prime Minister's painstaking efforts. I cannot explain to the Prime Minister, but we must face the reality. Whether all the soldiers died of illness or surrender, Jicheng could not be saved in the end, and Longxi was over. Although we cannot accept it emotionally, we are ashamed of the Prime Minister, but we can save the general, especially General Xiahou. I believe the Prime Minister will still admit that we did the right thing, General Xiahou thinks."

"But we can't all go, we have to stay."

Xun You smiled miserably, "I know, so I decided to stay, and I will admit all the consequences."

Xiahou Dun turned around and stared at him. Xun You's eyes were extremely firm. Xiahou Dun was moved. He had to admit that Xun You was rational. Now was not the time to get upset. He couldn't help but sigh, "Okay, I accept Liu Jing's plan, and everything will be left to the military advisor to handle."

.........

The next morning, more than a dozen sheepskin rafts were loaded with more than a senior Cao army officers left the head of Ji County and headed southwest. They would go ashore dozens of miles away, and then leave Longxi and return to Guanzhong. Tens of thousands of Cao army soldiers watched them silently, and many of them squatted down and cried bitterly. The pain of being abandoned was unacceptable to them, but more people's eyes were full of anger, but no one roared or shouted. It was a kind of speechless anger.

Xun You did not leave, and he was the only one of the officials above Yajiang. He did not want to surrender to Liu Jing, but to take on this responsibility. The Prime Minister handed over Longxi to him, but he did not save Longxi in the end, which made him feel ashamed and self-blame.

Not long after the sheepskin raft transporting Xiahou Dun left, a fleet of several sheepskin rafts began to slowly sail towards Jicheng, for a huge sheepskin raft that could carry several people, but Liu Jing stood on the raft. He was looking here with his hands behind his back. A smile of a winner was hanging on the corner of his mouth, not for nearly 60,000 prisoners of war, but for Longxi. He finally occupied the Wei River Valley for the whole year of the Northern Expedition. This step was particularly difficult, but extremely steady. As long as he seized Longxi, he would not lose it again.

Sheepskin rafts began to slowly approach Jicheng, and no one of the Cao soldiers resisted. At this time, they were lucky to survive. Moreover, the senior officials had abandoned them, which made them disheartened. The soldiers took off their armor, put down their weapons, boarded the sheepskin raft, and drove towards the Han army camp ten miles away. It would take at least two days to transport the 60,000 prisoners of war.

At this time, Liu Jing's raft approached Nancheng. Liu Jing bowed and smiled at Xun You and said, "Military Xun is willing to live and die with the soldiers. Liu Jing admires it very much. Please ask Military Master Xun to get on my raft."

Xun You shook his head, pointed to the raft that transported prisoners of war in the distance, and whispered loudly: "That's the raft I deserve."

Liu Jing understood what he meant and smiled and said, "Please rest assured Mr. Xun. I will not force Military Advisor Xun to do anything. Military Advisor Xun can leave at any time and return to Yedu."

After saying that, he ordered someone to ride an empty raft to pick up Xun You. Xun You nodded, "Thank you, the Palace Master for understanding Xun You, and also for the Palace Master for treating the soldiers well. There has been a plague in the army. Please check the Palace Master carefully and don't cause any greater tragedy."

"I will, thank you Military Advisor Xun for your reminder."

Liu Jing immediately ordered the left and right, "Soldiers with fever in Cao's army will be isolated first, and then sent back to the prisoner-of-war camp after confirming that they are safe."

The soldiers sent orders, and Liu Jing looked at the sheepskin rafts loaded with Cao's prisoners of war, and then ordered: "Tell me the order to General Huang, so that he could block the Wei River and dredge the flood as soon as possible."

At the beginning of the 18th year of Jian'an, in the spring flood of the Wei River, the Han army dug up the Wei River embankment and flooded the city of Ji. The seventy thousand Cao troops were drowned, and the remaining nearly 60,000 people had nowhere to escape. They all became prisoners of the Han army. The Han army occupied the Wei River valley. At this point, the Han army's northern expedition, which lasted for a whole year, finally came to an end.

But the war did not end. After the flood retreated, the Han army immediately rectified its troops and crossed the Wei River. They divided into four troops and marched into Guangwei County, Nan'an County, Longxi County and Anding County. At this time, Xu Huang's army stationed in Linwei County, Guangwei County also withdrew from Guanzhong. The remaining counties in Longxi were empty and they opened the city to surrender. The Han army was unstoppable and occupied the five counties in Longxi in just a few days.

The news that Longxi was lost and the 100,000 troops fled back only 20,000 soon reached Yedu, and the government and the country were in an uproar. This news was even more shocking than Liu Jing's capture of Yizhou. Everyone knows that Longxi is just a springboard. After the Han army captured Longxi, the next step would be to target Guanzhong.

For several days, there were many discussions between the government and the country, including the people, and some people celebrated each other, raising their glasses to celebrate the hope of revival of the Han Dynasty, while others disagreed and angrily accused Liu Jing of having ulterior motives and being disobedient. However, Cao Cao was very quiet and had not heard his voice for several days. No one knew what he was like.

Dongshi, to the south of the palace, is the most prosperous commercial center in Yedu. There are thousands of shops in Dongshi that sell various goods. There are more than 20 taverns densely distributed on both sides of the gate of Dongshi. There are crowds every day and business is booming.

At noon that day, several followers guarded an old man with white beards and walked into a tavern called Wan Shunxing. This tavern is tall and famous in Yedu. Its business is prosperous. It is filled with guests from morning to night every day.

The old man was wearing a cloth robe and a flat scarf. He had a medium figure and looked quite elegant. But if you look closely, you will find that his beard was unnatural, his eyebrows, eyes and nose were cleverly made up, and he obviously came disguised. This person was Cao Cao who had been silent for several days. He was in a bad mood today, so he went out in a silence and went out to have some breathing in the city.

When a bartender saw them angry, he hurriedly stepped forward and smiled, "Several distinguished guests, there is an empty table on the second floor. Please follow me to the second floor."

Cao Cao nodded, "Then go up to the second floor."

The bartender took them to the second floor, found an empty seat by the window and sat down. Cao Cao said to Xu Chu: "You guys sit down too."

Xu Chu nodded and gave a wink to the guards. Several of them sat down on the other side and ordered some wine and food. Xu Chu poured Cao Cao a glass of wine and said with a smile: "It is rare for you to come out for a walk. Don't think about the affairs of the court. If you relax, you will be well."

After Cao Cao was killed last winter, he became seriously ill, leaving behind the root of his illness and was in poor health. This time, the Han army flooded Jicheng and captured Longxi, which shocked the court. Xu Chu was also worried that the Prime Minister would not be able to withstand the blow. Unexpectedly, the Prime Minister was very calm, not furious, nor was he depressed, but was extremely quiet, locked himself in the room for two consecutive days, and never saw him out for a whole day.

This made Xu Chu even more worried. He knew Cao Cao very well. This was a sign of heavy blow in his heart. Only in the Battle of Wancheng that Cao Ang was unfortunately killed in the battle, Cao Cao was locked in the tent for a day. Xu Chu didn't know how to comfort his lord, so he specifically advised him to come out for a walk.

Cao Cao picked up the wine glass and took a sip of wine. At this time, a noise came from the seat next door, and a man whispered loudly: "We can bet that Liu Jing will attack Guanzhong within half a month. If I lose, I will be willing to pay 10,000 yuan."

Another voice said: "I won't bet with you, but I think that I have just taken Longxi, so of course I have to stabilize the situation and appease the people. It is impossible to attack Guanzhong so quickly, at least one month later."

"What kind of military strategy do you know? Soldiers are the most important thing. Liu Jing occupied Nanyang again. He could launch an attack on Guanzhong from the west and south at the same time. Before the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry arrived in Guanzhong, he would capture Guanzhong in one fell swoop. This is the best strategy."

Cao Cao frowned slightly. Who is this? Xu Chu whispered: "I have seen this person, and it seems to be Yang Xian, the younger brother of Yang Biao."

Yang Xian and Cao Cao thought about it, but he had no impression of this person, and asked Xu Chu again, "Does he know you?"

Xu Chu shook his head, "He doesn't know me. The reason I remember him is because his hair is very distinctive and unforgettable."

Cao Cao looked at him sideways and saw that this man had red hair, just like the Red Eyebrow Army in the Wang Mang era, with blue eyes, which is indeed unforgettable. It seems that this man's mother is Bai Di.

At this time, the table was silent and no one dared to bet with him. Yang Xian said proudly again: "I'm right. If Liu Jing doesn't adopt this strategy, then he will be really stupid."

Cao Cao said coldly: "I'll make this bet with you."
Chapter completed!