Under Yong Kai's recommendation, the senior officials met many representatives of the major surnames in the South Central, including Gao Ding.

Gao Ding was a few years younger than the high-ranking official and called Gao Ding his brother. He was strong and cheerful. He fell in love with the high-ranking official and had a happy chat. He told Gao Ding that Cao Ren was not only the prefect of Yizhou, but also the general Annan conferred by the King of Shu, responsible for the military affairs of the entire southern Yizhou. He was controlled by Ji Ke, Jianwei, Yueli, and Han Chang. He directly took charge of the most important Yizhou County.

"He seems to trust Li Hui very much?" The high-ranking official looked at Li Hui who was socializing, thinking about Li Hui's disrespect when he was on the shore, and felt a little uncomfortable. A young barbarian, relying on Cao Ren's trust and respect, dared to disrespect me? You don't think about it, even Cao Ren himself dared not be so presumptuous.

Gao Ding smiled, smiling mysteriously. "Li Hui is the son of Mrs. Cuan Xi, and his name is Uncle Cuan Xi. The Cuan family is the first-class local tyrant in Nanzhong and is deeply supported by the barbarians. Not to mention our Gao family, even the Yong family, the Zhu family will give you three points of thin air."

Gao Gan suddenly realized. He looked Cao Ren again and became alert. Cao Ren was originally a young man, but he didn't expect that he would take Li Hui for himself with such a method. No wonder he was able to gain the support of the powerful people in the South China so quickly, so it should not be underestimated. This has something to do with Cao Cao's title of king. With the title of king, Cao Cao's rule over Yizhou is justified, at least it is useful to scare these barbarians.

When the high-ranking officials thought of this, they felt a little uncomfortable. He and Liu Yao fought hard in Jiaozhou for many years, restrained Sun Jian's tens of thousands of troops, but were forgotten by the court. Now, poor families like Sun Ce, Cao Cao, and Liu Bei have all been granted the king, but they have gained nothing. Speaking of which, Liu Yao is still a royal family, and is more qualified to be granted the king than Liu Bei.

The high-ranking official was in a depressed mood and drank a few glasses of wine in a row, and he became drunk without realizing it.

When the high-ranking officials woke up, they found themselves lying in a tall and spacious pavilion. The pavilion was made of bamboo and wood. It was seen from the window. The view was wide, with green mountains and clear waters, lush forests and bamboos. It was a place with excellent scenery. There were two young and beautiful maids in the house, who were talking softly while flipping through books. It turned out to be a familiar local accent, and it was also about Confucianism.

The high-ranking man was surprised and moved for a moment. When the maid heard the voice, he quickly got up and asked with concern. Listening to the maid's gentle voice, he felt the long-lost Central Plains civilization. The high-ranking man's nose felt sore and his eyes were moist.

The maid helped the high-ranking cadre up, took the prepared sobering soup, served the high-ranking cadre and drank some, and then took a volume of documents, saying that it was left by Cao Ren, and waited for the high-ranking cadre to see. The high-ranking cadre took it and opened it and saw that it was a military newspaper, but it was a relatively early, a month ago. It mentioned that Sun Ce ordered Zhu Huan to lead the army into Yanzhou and fight Dong Zhao.

The information was very simple and the outcome was not decided, but the senior officials still saw some problems from it. The place where Zhu Huan and Li Jin fought was Dingtao, Dong Zhao defended Changyi, and the other party participated in the war, Lu Fan, the governor of Junyi, was Lu Fan, which means that Chenliu County had changed hands.

The high-ranking official is Chen Liu. Seeing the fall of his home, he felt relieved when Sun Ce was brutal to his aristocratic family, and he felt a little at a loss for a moment. Sun Ce's momentum was so strong. Can Dong Zhao and Li Jin defend Yanzhou? Once Yanzhou is lost, Sun Ce will occupy all the Central Plains and will march into Jizhou next. Yuan Tan faces a very serious situation.

He is a cousin with Yuan Tan. He was a member of the Yuan family from the beginning. Yuan Shao died in battle, which would have a severe blow to them. If Yuan Tan was defeated again, their connection with the Central Plains would be broken. What is the meaning of fighting?

The high-ranking officials were panicked and felt empty.

Not long after, Cao Ren walked up quickly, waved his hand, and signaled the two maids to temporarily retreat. "Brother Yuancai, thank you for your hard work in the past few years."

Gao Gan sighed and wanted to speak but stopped. He was indeed sad, but he could not tell Cao Ren. Cao Ren was not in a hurry and gently pulled Gao Gan away the military newspaper, glanced at it, and asked, "Brother Yuancai thinks how the battle will be turned out?"

The high-ranking official raised his head, looked at Cao Ren, and asked back, "Zi Xiao, what plan does the King of Shu have? Go out of the Three Gorges and take Jingzhou?"

Cao Ren smiled bitterly. He straightened his waist and patted his knees. "Brother Yuancai, I'm going to tell you that the King of Shu is in trouble to defend Yizhou at present. It's even more impossible to get out of the Three Gorges to take Jingzhou. Last year, the King of Shu took Wu County and successfully attracted Zhou Yu and Huang Zhong's army, with nearly 100,000 troops, creating an opportunity for the King of Wei to attack Yanzhou. I thought Sun Ce was attacked by enemies on three sides and his troops were not supported, but Sun Ce conscripted in Yuzhou and conscripted 200,000. 200,000..."

Cao Ren raised two fingers and shook them in front of the high-ranking official. The high-ranking official frowned. "Will 200,000 recruit soldiers in Yuzhou alone?"

"Don't you believe it? I can't believe it either. But this is the fact. The King of Wei has no choice but to give up Yanzhou and leave Dong Zhao to entangle with the King of Wu. The final result is still unclear, but we must not be optimistic."

"Sun Ce originally had an army of nearly 200,000. If he recruited another 200,000 troops, how much food and grass should be consumed? Can he afford it?"

"Brother Yuan Cai said that Sun Ce did encounter trouble, but he solved it. You may not think of the solution."

"What's the solution?"

"Sun Ce used two methods: one was to transport rice from Jiaozhou, and the specific number was unclear. It is said that there were dozens of ships in the sea, with a total of nearly one million stones. The other was to fish in the sea, using sea fish as food."

"Can fishing be used as military rations?" The high-ranking official looked disdainful.

"Don't say that Brother Yuan Cai doesn't believe it, I don't believe it either, but it is a fact that the King of Wei voluntarily withdraws from Yanzhou. Now there are only 30,000 Jizhou troops led by Dong Zhao and local Yanzhou troops in Yanzhou. In short, the situation is not optimistic."

The high-ranking sneered: "Is it a mistake for the King of Wei to withdraw from Yanzhou? Let's talk about it later. Cao's envoy was originally an old subordinate of the Yuan family. Why didn't he join forces with the King of Wei but instead fought with the King of Wei, which wasted time? If he was the vanguard of the King of Wei and attacked Yuzhou, why would he have today?"

Cao Ren asked back: "Does Cao Envoy have the final say in Yanzhou?"

The high-ranking cadre suddenly spoke. He was from Yanzhou and knew the idea of ​​the Yanzhou family. How could they be convinced by Cao Cao and his son after the eunuch? They just hoped that Cao Cao and his son could keep Yanzhou safe. Yuan Tan was once the governor of Yanzhou, but later he was defeated in Rencheng. The Yanzhou family had no confidence in him and refused to turn against Sun Ce. Even if Cao Ang wanted to surrender to Yuan Tan, he might not be able to do what he wanted.

The people of Yanzhou have tortured themselves to death.

"For soldiers, if they are united, they will benefit; if they are divided, they will be injured. There are too many lessons like this." Cao Ren sighed. "We are like this, and so are Sun Ce and his son. I am frank, it is not easy for you to persevere until now, but you cannot relax. Sun Jian is good at fighting, but he is still slightly inferior to Sun Ce, at best, comparable to the nine governors under Sun Ce. If Sun Ce pacifies the Central Plains, he personally leads a large army to fight south and advances along the sea and land, I am really worried whether you can still defend Jiaozhi. Brother Yuancai, think twice."

The high-ranking cadre's heart skipped a beat, but he refused to give in. "Even if Sun Ce pacified the Central Plains, he would still be in the Central and Bingzhou, how could he lead the army south?"

"Brother Yuancai thought it was the Taihang Mountains high or the Wuling Mountains high?"

The high-ranking official was stunned and speechless.

"The Sun family originated in Jiangdong, and the Danyang soldiers were known as the elite in the world. Sun Ce was good at training troops. When it comes to infantry and jungle fighting, there was no match for the world. Zhou Yu and Huang Zhong attacked from both sides, almost no one could defeat him. If it weren't for the Central Plains War, Yizhou would have been conquered by them. The King of Shu was worried and urgently needed to join forces with Brother Yuan Cai to solve the urgent problem."

The high-ranking official looked at Cao Ren and was secretly happy. He was originally asking for help from Cao Ren, but hesitating about how to speak. He wanted to ask Cao Ren to take action, but could not be controlled by Cao Ren. Now Cao Ren asked him for help instead, and the nature of this matter changed. Both sides became equal allies, at least they didn't have to worry about being controlled by others.

"Zi Xiao, what are the plans of the King of Shu?"

Cao Ren did not rush to say that. He stroked his knees, pondered for a while, before saying, "What's your relationship with Wu Ju?"

The senior officials became alert again. "Still known."

"Is Cangwu County still in his hands? How many soldiers can he gather?"

The senior officials hesitated for a while. "This... is not very clear. Last spring, we retreated to Jiaozhi and didn't have much contact with him. I heard that Sun Jian sent Huang Gai to attack Cangwu. You must also know that Huang Gai was from Lingling. He followed Sun Jian to raise an army in Changsha, familiar with the battles in the mountains and forests, and there were many capable soldiers under him. It might not be easy for Wu Ju to defeat him."

Thinking of Wu Ju and Cangwu County, the senior officials felt even more regretful. When he and Liu Yao first arrived in Jiaozhou, they had received help from Wu Ju. They fought happily and killed Zhu Fu. Even after Sun Jian entered Jiaozhou, they almost killed Sun Quan. However, they later had differences with Wu Ju and fought on their own, and the situation became increasingly unfair. Now that Wu Ju's Cangwu was lost, most of them were beaten by Sun Jian, and they could only ask Cao Ren for help.

It is indeed a famous saying that if you combine, you will benefit from it. If you divide it, you will suffer from it. This is indeed the case. If you cannot be united, once Sun Ce leads his troops, they will only be defeated by Sun Ce.

Cao Ren could see clearly coldly and was secretly happy. Benefiting from the intelligence system established by Xi Zhicai and the help of Li Hui and others, he was very clear about the relationship between Liu Yao, the high-ranking cadre and Wu Ju. He only made a lot of articles to make the high-ranking cadre understand this himself. If the high-ranking cadre, Liu Yao still regarded himself as a noble family and a famous family, and was unwilling to recognize the reality, cooperation was meaningless, so he could only choose to merge by force.

Martial annexation is obviously not the best strategy. First, it is inevitable that he will suffer some damage, and second, it is impossible to consume time. Zhou Yu has already gone deep into Jianwei. If he cannot launch an attack in southern Jingzhou for a short time and shake his rear, once Zhou Yu enters the Chengdu Plain and has the opportunity to feed on the spot, this battle will be dangerous.
Chapter completed!