The peaceful and stable days always pass quickly. He led the team back to Pengcheng from Huainan. With Deputy Director Tao almost no feeling, time had already entered the second half of the three years of Jian'an.

In contrast to the stable and peaceful counties of Xuzhou, the chaotic Han Dynasty was intensifying and unremitting chaos. On the Central Plains, after controlling the central and northern parts of Nanyang, Cao once tried to attack Xiangyang and seize the nine counties of Jingzhou, but was jointly resisted by Liu Biao, Zhang Xiu and Liu Bei, three teams, and stopped at the Xinye line. As a last resort, Cao had to stop when he saw the opportunity. After beheading Liu Biao's general Deng Ji, he withdrew his troops north and then divided a side army to capture Runan east. Not only did he successfully seize the almost anarchic majority of Runan, but he also recruited Li Tong, a general who was no less than the five good generals, and was both good.

After reconciling with Deputy Director Tao, the boss Cao obviously began to transfer his fortune. During this period, Guanzhong warlord General Ning Ji, Duan Wei, killed Li Jue, the remnant of Dong Boss, and returned to Chang'an. He personally took Li Jue's head and Li Jue's family to Xuchang to surrender to Cao, allowing Cao to take down Guanzhong land without any effort - at least in reputation. Another boss Dong, Guo Si, was also killed by the rebel general Wu Xi, and the head was sent to Xuchang to Cao. Cao was overjoyed. While rewarding Duan Wei and Wu Xi, his strength of decline had begun to grow again and quickly surpassed his previous state of prosperity.

The three kings of Da Yuan also reported frequent good news. After visiting Yi Jing to command the battle, Da Yuan San Gong first defeated Zhang Yan, the black bandit who came to rescue Gongsun Zan, and then concentrated on attacking Yi Jing City. Although Gongsun Zan dug ten moats outside the city to build fortifications, he could not withstand the joint attack between Princess of Da Yuan and the weakened Xiangyang Cannon. In less than two months, all the outer fortifications were lost. In the war, countless dead surrendered. The remaining troops retreated back to Yi Jing to defend the lonely city.

In despair, Gongsun Zan also hid in the high building in the middle of Yijing City like in history, with a large group of beautiful wives and concubines. He only passed on his food and letters with ropes and baskets. He was never willing to go downstairs, nor was he allowed to go upstairs. He waited for death like an ostrich. He was countless subordinates who were disinterested in their subordinates, and their destruction was only a matter of time. Moreover, because the Grand Duke of Yuan had a powerful weapon in his hand, he was almost destined to be destroyed earlier than in history.

Deputy Director Tao's other good neighbors were not idle either. On the side of Xiao Yuan Sangong on the south side, although Liu Yao's army devoted all his strength to resist tenaciously, the lean camel was larger than the horse. Xiao Yuan Sangong, who had an absolute advantage in overall strength, finally captured the two cities of Shicheng and Danyang, completely isolated Liu Yao's Niuzhu camp, forcing Liu Yao to give up Niuzhu and retreat. Xiao Yuan Sangong took advantage of the situation and advanced vigorously, chasing and attacking Jurong before stopping, and took down most of the grain-producing areas south of the Yangtze River and north of the Zhongjiang River. Liu Yao was alone and poor. He had to send envoys to ask for help from Yan Baihu, Wang Lang and Xu Gong.

On the southwest side of Liu Shoumen, affected by the two-front battle, the Jingzhou army led by Huang Zu made a very slow progress. The war to wipe out Zhang Xian's rebels had been repeated several times. Several times, they were forced to stop advancing because of the lack of supply of food and grass, which gave Zhang Xian a chance to breathe. They also gave Wuling and Lingling the two rebel counties to rescue Changsha. They have not yet captured the city of Changsha. This led to Liu Biao's extremely dissatisfaction and also gave Liu Qi the time and opportunity to gain a foothold in Jiangxia.

The neighbors around were fighting endlessly. Only the five counties of Xuzhou were as stable as before, and their prosperity was even better than the past. They just caught up with the five counties of Xuzhou in Jian'an for three years. The people of Xuzhou were of course living and working in peace and sing, but Deputy Director Tao, who was afraid that the world would not be in chaos, was very aggrieved, because during this period, the Xuzhou army, not to mention expanding territory, had no chance to find a few rookies to make experience. The neighbors around either couldn't afford to offend or fight. The army was training every day, and the whole army was almost bored.

After being depressed, Deputy Director Tao was not idle. He was always busy with military affairs and government affairs of all sizes. In addition to inspecting the people's livelihood army every few days, he also took time to develop marching food such as pancakes, steamed buns, cut noodles, salted radish and fermented black beans. Although these things are not technically high, they can basically be made as long as you have seen and eaten. However, they can greatly reduce the logistics burden and allow the army to extend the time of field combat, which has a huge impact on the production and life of the military and civilians, and play a huge role in improving production efficiency and improving the pace of life.

"Bah! Why is it so unpalatable?" Spit out the trial black fermented black black beans in his mouth. While rinsing the water, Deputy Director Tao tried to recall the Sichuan black fermented black beans he had eaten in the 21st century. The thing that was dried and stored for a year will not turn bad. Just a handful of them can be used to season and add salt. However, the famous chefs in Xuzhou have tried it three times, and they have not yet made the taste that Deputy Director Tao likes.

Seeing Deputy Director Tao grinning and complaining that the black fermented black beans were unpalatable, Bo Chen Ying, who sent the samples to Deputy Director Tao, was inevitably a little strange, and said, "My lord, isn't that bad, right? The grain official reported that after this batch of samples was distributed to the army, our soldiers liked to serve food, and they also said that they were better than the first two batches of black fermented black beans. In order to get an extra handful of black beans, Danyang soldiers under General Wei Yan also had an internal fight?"

"Don't use those Danyang as examples. They didn't fight that day?" Deputy Director Tao spit out mouthwash, picked up a piece of linen cloth and wiped his mouth and said, "Tell the chefs to make it again, add some chopped ginger shreds and put it in. If it still doesn't work, just make a batch according to this third method and store it."

Chen Yingchangnuo agreed. At this time, Liu Ye suddenly walked into Deputy Director Tao's study with a bundle of bamboo slips and said happily: "Lord, happy event, happy event, the report I just received from my subordinates, suddenly appeared in Jizhou, saying that it was the general official of Yuan Benchu, who was dissatisfied with Yuan Benchu's failure to take over the position of Tian Feng's Jizhou, and intends to rebel from Yuan Shao's team, and is preparing to take advantage of Yuan Shao's opportunity to lead his army to stay in Yecheng to present Jizhou to Cao Cao!"

"Is this really a matter?" Deputy Director Tao asked in surprise.

"It's true." Liu Ye nodded vigorously and replied: "More than one of our troops did this in detail to report this matter. Ye suspected that this might be the plan of the traitor of Cao Cao. Shen Pei was the head of the Jizhou clan and had a large clan. Once Yuan Shao had suspicion about Shen Pei, there would inevitably be a rift within, which would help Cao's thieves to further provoke discord and weaken Yuan Shao's team from the inside."

Speaking of this, Liu Ye quickly added: "Of course, because Shen Pei is the confidant of Mr. Yuan Shang, this cannot be ruled out that it was a rumor spread by Yuan Tan. However, Ye believes that Cao Cao is the most likely. In order to resist Yuan Shao's southward journey, Cao Cao has begun to build fortifications in Guandu, Guandu, the only way for Yuan Shao to attack Xudu. It can be seen that Cao Cao is also preparing for a big battle with Yuan Shao."

"No matter who spreads the rumor, we cannot miss this opportunity." Deputy Director Tao waved his hand and ordered: "Mr. Ziyang, arrange your staff immediately to spread this rumor among the people of Xuzhou and Yanzhou. Let the father-in-law know about this. Yuan Fang, you will write a letter to my wife and brother Yuan Shang, reminding him in my reputation that he should be careful that this is Yuan Tan's plan to sow discord and frame him."

Liu Ye and Chen Ying agreed together, and then Liu Ye hurriedly took the order and Chen Ying picked up a silk pen to make a book. When Liu Ye left, Deputy Director Tao first coughed, and then suddenly shouted: "Cao Hong."

"The last one will be there."

Behind the screen in the corner, the old lackey of the old Tao family stood up. Cao Hong, the general of Xuzhou's inner guard who specialized in doing dirty things for Deputy Director Tao, agreed to bow to Deputy Director Tao with his fists. However, Deputy Director Tao did not speak to Cao Hong, but turned to Chen Ying and ordered: "Yuan Fang, don't write that letter for now. Look at the official documents brought by General Cao. Can you imitate the handwriting on the official documents?"

Chen Ying, who was appointed as secretary by Deputy Director Tao because he was good at imitating other people's handwriting, agreed. Cao Hong had already silently opened the wall's dense grid. He found a silk cloth from the dense grid, held it with both hands and sent it to Chen Ying. Chen Ying took it and found that it was the most common official script in this era. His brushwork was neat and powerful, but it was not difficult to imitate and forge it. So Chen Ying immediately replied respectfully: "It should be no big problem when he returns to the lord."

"Very good." Deputy Director Tao nodded with satisfaction, and after a moment of thought, "Then you imitate this handwriting and write a letter to Cao Cao's traitors with the reputation of Shen Pei, the chief official of Jizhou. The content was to persuade Cao Cao's traitors to take advantage of the emptiness of the southern line of Jizhou and quickly send troops to attack Jizhou. Shen Pei will definitely accept Cao's traitors to take down Jizhou as agreed. Then warn Cao Cao's traitors not to lose their opportunity and never come again. Once my father-in-law breaks through Yi Jing and returns to the army to go south, Cao's traitors will never have the chance to take down Jizhou."

"What?!" Chen Ying, who was still very simple and honest, widened his eyes and looked at Cao Hong who was silent beside him. Chen Ying suddenly woke up again and exclaimed in a low voice: "Lord, is the rumor that Shen Pei colluded with Cao thieves to offer Jizhou that you sent General Cao Hong to arrange for the inner guard to spread it?"

Deputy Director Tao and Cao Hong both laughed, and they were all extremely sarcastic. Then Deputy Director Tao said with a treacherous smile: "Yuan Fang misunderstood. How can you suspect that General Cao and I did it? Mr. Ziyang didn't say it just now. This is not done by Cao's thief or Yuan Tan's husband. Your lord is a gentleman, how could he do such a rude thing?"

Poor Mr. Chen Ying smiled bitterly, and there was no way to deal with his rogue lord. Deputy Director Tao put away his smile, waved his hand and called Cao Hong in front of him, and whispered in Cao Hong's ear: "After Yuan Fang forged the letter, he brought the letter to Li Yang, and casually found a single passenger staying in the inn to kill him, and then hid the letter on him and pretended to be a robbery of money and killing people. If it is not convenient to do it in the inn, it is okay to do it on the road outside the city, but remember, you must arrange the most reliable personnel."

Cao Hong, who specialized in doing these unethical things for Deputy Director Tao, didn't say anything, just nodded to express his understanding, and then bowed and retreated. Deputy Director Tao started to start thinking about where to improve the poison plan, or where there were flaws and loopholes. At the same time, Deputy Director Tao couldn't help but have such an idea, "If you pretend to be a companion and surrender to Cao's thief, what effect will it be?"

After thinking for a while, Deputy Director Tao quickly made up his mind and ordered Chen Ying: "Yuan Fang, just write another letter in Shen Pei's handwriting and tone, and to give Cao Zhe. He said that Shen Pei could not stand Yuan Shao's suspicion and meanness, and wanted to take advantage of Yuan Shao's main force to go north and act as an internal force to give Jizhou to boss Cao. By the way, he warned Cao Zhe in Shen Pei's tone. Even if Cao Zhe did not dare to take the initiative to start a war with Yuan Shao, Yuan Shao would definitely be the first to attack after returning to the army south! Instead of being passively beaten, it would be better to take the initiative and stab Yuan Shao first!"

"Cao thief is extremely treacherous and not inferior to his lord, so he may not fall into a trap, right?" Chen Ying asked with some concern.

"Don't compare me with Cao Zhe. Am I as cunning and vicious as him?" Deputy Director Tao complained dissatisfiedly, and said with a smile: "Also, there is no need for Cao Zhe to fall into the trap and believe that the examiner will surrender. It is enough for Cao Zhe to see this letter."

"It's enough to see this letter?" Chen Ying was a little surprised.

"Yes, it's enough." Deputy Director Tao nodded and said slowly: "With Cao's treacherous and suspiciousness, even if he doesn't believe this letter, he will definitely prepare for the future. Cao's thief takes action. I will have a chance."

……………………

Because he knew that it would be difficult for him to fall into the trap with his treacherous deeds, when Deputy Director Tao sent an inner guard to send a letter to Cao Cao, he did not kill innocent people again. He threw the forged letters directly at the gate of Cao Hong's confidant Cao Hong at night. Originally, the Xuzhou spies under Cao Hong wanted to throw them directly at the gate of Cao's Prime Minister's Mansion, but Cao's enemies were too many. Even in the middle of the night, there were a large number of soldiers guarding him, and there was almost no chance to get close without being exposed. Therefore, Xuzhou spies picked General Cao Hong, who was famously stingy, in order to save money, he was reluctant to even light the lanterns at the gate.

By the way, the Xuzhou spy who was carrying out the mission was also quite smart. In order to explain the reason why he threw the letter in front of Cao Hong's gate, he added a crooked sentence on the letter bag - he was afraid that the prime minister would suspect and harm him. The villain was afraid of death and dared to ask the general to pass it to the prime minister.

No matter how poor the sending methods of Xuzhou spies were, when the family delivered the letter they had picked up to General Cao Hong, they read the content of the letter and saw the forged seal of Jizhou General Staff. General Cao Hong did not dare to be negligent at all. He hurried to the Prime Minister's Mansion to pass the letter to Boss Cao. Unfortunately, when Boss Cao finished reading the letter, General Cao Hong not only did not receive any reward or praise, but also was scolded by Boss Cao, "Idiot! What's the credibility of such a letter of unknown origin? It's so stupid that he dared to send it to disturb me!"

General Cao Hong was dejected and began to regret that he had meddled with other people's business - he had known that he should have used this letter to wipe his butt. Xun Yu calmly asked for the letter from Boss Cao. After a long time of reading, Xun Yu, who had been an accomplice under the command of the Grand Duke of Yuan San, raised his head and said gently: "Ming Gong is the handwriting of Shen Pei. Although it cannot be ruled out as a forgery, it may be indeed written by Shen Zhengnan."

"So what if Shen Pei writes it? Will Shen Pei surrender to us?" Boss Cao snorted coldly, but the black hand couldn't help but pick up the bag, looked at the words on the bag, and said in his heart: "It makes sense. I can't easily believe that Shen Pei is asked to surrender. The messenger who sent the message answered slightly, either he fell to the ground or went to the prison for the rest of his life."

At this time, Guo Jia, Cheng Yu, Xun You, Mao Jie and Man Chong and other advisers also took turns to read the letter. However, after reading it, these resourceful strategists were silent, and no one rushed to express their opinions. After a long time, Guo Jia coughed and said, "No matter whether the letter is true or not, but there is a sentence in the letter that is right - after Yuan Shao eliminated Gongsun Zan and returned to the south, our army would definitely be the first to be hit. Instead of being passively beaten, it is better to take the initiative."

After Guo Jia finished coughing, the meeting hall fell silent again. After a long time, Xun Yu, who had always been cheerful and elegant, said hesitantly: "Mr. Fengxiao's words... are extremely true. Not to mention that Yuan Shao's common man was dissatisfied with the princess's administration, and his conflicts with the lord became increasingly deeper, and he had a relative of the traitor of Tao Ying. Even from a geographical point of view, our army must be Yuan Shao's first target to go south. No matter how confused Yuan Shao was, he could not bypass Yanzhou and take Qingzhou and Langya, which were starving and far away, and take a long distance to attack Tao Ying's traitor."

"Mr. Wen Ruo, don't the war start so soon?" Man Chong raised an objection and said, "Zhong went on a mission to Jizhou several times, and he knew that Hebei had fought for years. Yuan Shao's daily life had already withered in the territory of the people, and the taxes were getting heavier. The people were overwhelmed, and the army was exhausted. Even if Yuan Shao wanted to go south, he would have to rest for at least one or two years."

"What if Yuan Shao forced his troops to send troops regardless of people's livelihood? Yuan Shao could definitely do such a thing." Xun Yu said in a deep voice: "In addition, according to our army's detailed investigation, the five counties in Xuzhou have been well ripe this year, and the grain harvest is bumper. A large number of people have been added to the Jiulishan Iron Mine in Xia Pi. Sixteen new mines have opened to mine a large amount of pig iron, but the price of grain and iron in the territory has not fallen but risen. Where did these grain and pig iron go? Isn't it because the pottery thieves secretly hoarded and prepared for war or what? The pottery thieves are already preparing for the future from so far away, preventing Yuan Shao from going south. If our army does not prepare in advance and Yuan Shao suddenly arrives, it will be too late to regret it."

"Secretly prepare for war and prevent Yuan Shao from going south?" Cao Boss smiled, suddenly raised his voice and shouted: "I'm afraid you're always ready to stab my back? This traitor didn't cut him with one knife at the beginning, which was really the biggest mistake in my life! If this treacherous thief was not threatening me behind my back, Yuan Shao, who was not martial, was even if there were millions of people, what would I be afraid of?"

Everyone present closed their mouths, and Guo Jia simply lowered his head. Only Boss Cao's secretary Sima Lang said carefully: "Lord, why not try to alienate Yuan Shao and Taoist thief again? If you can succeed, all the problems of our army can be solved."

"Garing away? It's easy to say!" Boss Cao shouted angrily: "For Tao Ying, the treacherous thief, he wants to distract him from his relationship with him, Yuan Shao, but he will be dispelled immediately! Besides, Yuan Shao is not a fool. Even if he succeeds in disarray, Yuan Shao will definitely force me to attack Tao thief first. He hides behind him and reaps profits!"

Sima Lang didn't dare to speak anymore, and Mao Jie next to him said carefully: "I wonder if your lord remembers it? Not long ago, our army found out about a detailed work - the folk customs in Jizhou. Shen Pei was dissatisfied with Yuan Shao's failure to appoint him as a Jizhou Neijia, and intends to rebel from Jizhou to join our army."

"This rumor must have been spread by Yuan Tan's son, so it should not be true." The boss Cao waved his hand arbitrarily and snorted coldly: "Shen Pei assisted Yuan Shang, who is Yuan Shang's confidant, and he was trusted by Yuan Shao to entrust the military service on the southern line. Yuan Tan's son must have been jealous. It is not surprising that Shen Pei's two thieves were using this plan to discard Yuan Shao."

"But lord, what if this letter of submission is really true?" Mao Jie reminded unwillingly: "If this book is really done by Shen Pei, wouldn't the lord missed the opportunity to win Jizhou in one fell swoop?"

"Fuck! Is there such a good thing in the world?" Mr. Cao was in a bad mood and cursed, "If I send troops to attack Jizhou, I will definitely be tricked. What is Shen Pei..."

After scolding this, Boss Cao suddenly stopped, because Boss Cao suddenly remembered a big event - now the main force of the Grand Duke Yuan San is on the northern line, and the southern line is not only empty in the garrison, but also has already figured out how many troops he has. Even if Shen Pei really surrendered, he sent troops to attack Yecheng in a surprise attack, but in fact, the danger is not very great.

Seeing the expression of Boss Cao, Guo Jia, who had been with Boss Cao's friend for many years, suddenly woke up and picked up the letter and looked carefully. Then he raised his head and said quickly: "Lord, if this letter is really done by Chen Pei, then it is impossible for Chen Pei to surrender. Yuan Shao's main force is on the northern line and the southern line is empty and there are not many troops. He deceived our army to take the initiative to attack Yecheng, and there is no force to design and severely damage us."

Boss Cao calmly did not speak. It took a long time to take the letter from Guo Jia to take a closer look. Guo Jia also made a fool of himself and whispered: "Lord, why not send a secret envoy to hold this book to secretly contact Shen Pei? Inquiry in person about the authenticity of the letter. If it is true, it will benefit endlessly. If it is false, our army will almost lose no damage."

Boss Cao's heart moved, first nodded, and then whispered: "In addition to sending secret envoys to contact Shen Pei, he sent an envoy to contact Tao Ying Xiaozhe, and agreed on a time with him to be in the old place..."
Chapter completed!