Cao Cao gently pushed open the door and looked at it.

Xi Zhicai sat in front of the desk and drank alone. The meat and vegetables on the desk did not move much, but only half of the wine was left. Xi Zhicai's face was blushed and unhealthy flushed, and his eyes were filled with blood. He heard the sound of opening the door, he looked up and poured a glass of wine into his mouth. He poured it too fast, half of it spilled on his chest, and some rushed into his nose, choking him and coughing loudly.

Cao Cao rushed in, snatched the wine glass from Xi Zhicai's hand with one hand, stroked Xi Zhicai's back with the other, and comforted her repeatedly.

"Zhicai, it's me wrong. You must not hurt your body."

Xi Zhicai coughed violently, panting and tears flowing. Cao Cao was embarrassed and had to stroke his back silently until he calmed down. Xi Zhicai took out his hand towel, wiped his face clean, pinched the hand towel into a ball, held it in his heart, and said with a cold face: "I lost my composure for a while, and made the general laugh."

Cao Cao moved to the opposite side of Xi Zhicai and sat down, and smiled and said, "Zhicai, you are in poor health recently and can't drink so much wine. Being drunk is harmful to your body."

Xi Zhicai lowered his head and said in a deep voice: "The general is here to look for me at this time. Is there anything wrong?"

"Only by the severe drought in Guanzhong can you have a countermeasure?"

Xi Zhicai's eyelids trembled, raised his hand, picked up the wine spoon, scooped a glass of wine, took a half sip, and slowly calmed down. "Does the general want to help Yuan Shao, or do you want to use the excuse of losing grain to Guanzhong to avoid leaving Jingzhou?"

Cao Cao laughed twice, turned around and secretly looked at Ren Jun outside the door. He thought he was very thorough in his plan, but Xi Zhicai told him in one sentence, and he clearly did not agree with Xi Zhicai's tone. It seemed that it was not Xi Zhicai who was drunk, but himself.

"Zhicai thought...inappropriate?"

Xi Zhicai sipped the wine slowly and was silent for a while. "It is necessary to export grain to Guanzhong. The only difference is the motivation, which is related to Guanzhong's position in the general strategy. Anyone who competes for the world must first understand the general trend. Those who make good use of their momentum will be unstoppable. Those who do not make good use of their momentum will be difficult step by step. Yuan Shao's difficulties and Sun Ce's difficulties today are all like this."

Cao Cao moved forward and hid on the desk. "I am willing to hear the details."

"Yuan Shao wanted to imitate Emperor Guangwu, and based on the human and material resources of Jizhou, backed by Youbing, captured Qingzhou, and Sili to encircle the Central Plains. This strategy was not a big deal, but it was a pity that he had his form and could not get his spirit. Why? In the past, Guangwu encountered the difficulties of Bosheng, and avoided the disaster and went to Hebei. He wanted to get help from Hebei, so he surrendered his ambition and bowed his head and married Guo Shengtong, so he gained the power of Hebei. Now Yuan Shao is in Hebei with the resources of the three ministers of the four generations and three kings, and wants to use Hebei heroes as his subordinates to change their positions. So far, he has not married people from Hebei, and his ambition is unyielding, which shows that. How can Hebei people fully support this?"

Cao Cao frowned slightly and nodded gently. It is indeed an important factor for the Hebei people to be slandered by Yuan Shao to this point today. In the confrontation with Gongsun Zan, with the full support of Hebei people, Yuan Shao was able to defeat Gongsun Zan one after another in unfavorable situations. In the Yanzhou battlefield, Yuan Tan's defeat was related to Yuan Shao's own thoughts, and also to the fact that Hebei people were standing by and watching.

As Xi Zhicai said, Yuan Shao learned Guangwu's form but not the spirit, and his alliance with Hebei people was not reliable.

"What about Sun Ce?"

"Sun's family was born in a humble family. Sun Jian started his military achievements and was brave and good at fighting, but his knowledge was not enough, so he was not troubled. However, Sun Ce first captured Nanyang, then took Yuzhou, and used Jingyu as a barrier to build the foundation of Jiangdong. It can be said that he knew the situation. Yuzhou was conducive to cavalry galloping and was also a place where party members lived. Sun Ce was not able to be able to be the only one who could not believe that he could occupy Yuzhou. Now he was worried about gains and losses, and Yuzhou became his weakness, and he was embarrassed to be in trouble today."

Cao Cao grabbed his beard and his eyes flashed. After a moment, he asked again: "Can Yuan Benchu ​​take back Yuzhou?"

"It was possible, but now it's not difficult."

“Why?”

"First, Yuan Benchu ​​killed Han Fu and blamed Zhang Miao, which was unpopular. Ruying scholars were scattered, and the Hebei people were not interested in occupying Yanyu, so they probably would not do their best. Second, Sun Ce was skillful in tactics, using softness to overcome hardness, and gradually divided the Yuzhou family. Zhang Chi was moderate and had initial results. Now, many families in Yuzhou abandoned their families and fled, and their land fell into Sun Ce's hands, and he was assigned to the common people to farm. The people who got the land would not want Yuan Benchu ​​to win. Sun Ce would stay in the battle for a long time. If they were not good, they could abandon Yuzhou and retreat to Jiangdong without hurting the foundation. Compared with the two, the Hebei people would not be willing to stop the troops under the city and waste money and food. Therefore, even if Yuan Benchu ​​could have a small victory, once Sun Ce occupied the city and defended it, it would be difficult for him to siege the city."

Cao Cao let out a sigh of relief and didn't say anything for a long time.

Xi Zhicai didn't speak, slowly sipped the wine and glanced at Cao Cao. Cao Cao thought for a while, his face relaxed a little, and said, "Yuan Benchu ​​could not win quickly, and Sun Ce could only maintain his unbeaten. They should not be able to make a move westward. So, isn't it my chance?"

Xi Zhicai still didn't speak.

Cao Cao glanced at him and changed his smile. "Zhicai, do you think, can I take the opportunity to take Guanzhong into my pocket?"

"Aren't you afraid of turning against Yuan Benchu? Once both sides find that they cannot decide the outcome in the Central Plains, they will inevitably turn their attention to other places. Yuan Benchu ​​will go west to Bingzhou. Huang Ziyan (Huang Wan) is in charge of Luoyang, and the land of the Three Rivers is within reach. Sun Ce will enter Yizhou, one is to take Yizhou as a barrier to seize the upstream land, and the other is to take the manpower and material resources of Yizhou."

"Yizhou is not that easy to take, right?" Cao Cao laughed twice.

"Yes, Yizhou is not Bingzhou, nor is it the land of the Three Rivers, so it is not that easy to take. But don't forget that Yuan Benchu ​​has only one person, and his only available son Yuan Tan was captured by Sun Ce. However, Sun Ce had Zhou Yu's help. He didn't need to personally enlist him, just appoint Zhou Yu."

Cao Cao frowned and pointed his head slightly. He understood Xi Zhicai's worries. Yuan Shao was generous on the outside and was afraid of his internal gaze. He would not delegate military power to others, and he would definitely take action personally. In this way, Sun Ce would have the possibility of attacking Hebei during his Western Expedition and forcing him to withdraw his troops. Several times, Yuan Shao had no success in his training, but Zhou Yu would not have such concerns. He could advance west wholeheartedly.

"Zhicai, am I still not Zhou Yu's opponent and can't defend Yizhou?" Cao Cao laughed twice, and his eyebrows were a little dissatisfied. Yizhou and Jingzhou have similar household registrations, but he is in the upper reaches and is in the dangerous gate of Xiongguan. Perhaps he has insufficient power to take the initiative to attack. It should be more than enough to defend according to the gate. Did Xizhicai be frightened by Zhou Yu, or did he look down on me?

Xi Zhicai raised his wine glass, placed it on his lips, and slowly took a sip.

"General, in terms of household registration, the two states are equal, but Nanyang is a big county managed by Sun Ce himself. Now it is a business meeting in the world. Zhou Yu has been in Jingzhou for three years. The scholars of Jingzhou are eager to use it, and the people are happy to use it. In Yizhou, how many scholars of Yizhou are attached to him? Zhou Yu used the remnants of the Yellow Turban farming, but you regard the Tianshi Taoist people as the main force and use the Lu family as the guest of the curtain. Do you want to win by the Taoist methods of Tianshi Tao?"

Xi Zhicai sneered: "If Taoism is really useful, how could the Yellow Turban be defeated?"
Chapter completed!