Ma Teng agreed to surrender. He stayed in Wuwei and would assist the new governor of Xiliang in governing Xiliang. Ma Chao, Ma Dai, and Pang De joined Chen Mo's army as lieutenant generals. Chen Mo was also very generous. Ma Chao and Pang De were directly given the title of partial general.

Ma Dai was the cavalry captain, responsible for public security in Chang'an and fighting against thieves.

As soon as Ma Teng surrendered, no matter what Han Sui chose, the battle situation in Xiliang was decided. Chen Mo promoted Xu Rong to the title of Protector of the Western Regions and granted him the title of Marquis. Hua Rong was appointed as the captain of the garrison and concurrently as the prefect of Jincheng. The two governors of Xiliang

In order to gain military power, Taishi Ci was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General who protects the Huns, and was transferred to Yunzhong to monitor the Huns. Recently, after being dealt with by Hua Xiong, the Huns seemed to have no long memory and were not very honest. It happened that the overall situation in Xiliang had been decided.

The troops stationed here can be reduced and transferred to Yunzhong.

However, the rear was stable, but Chen Mo couldn't be happy. At the Di Dao Yamen Office, Chen Mo read the letter in his hand again and sighed.

"My lord, why are you worried?" Xun You and Xu Shu were a little confused. With this great victory in Xiliang, Chen Mo's rear was completely stabilized. Although Han Sui had not expressed his position yet, it was only a matter of time before Jincheng was captured. Once Xiliang was over, Chen Mo would seize Bingzhou.

Sanfu, the land of the three states of Xiliang, is the overlord of the north. Shouldn't he be happy at this time?

"This is the document that was sent directly from Luoyang yesterday." Chen Mo said nothing and handed the bamboo slips in his hand to Xun You and asked them to read it themselves.

"Xuzhou has been conquered!?" Xun You looked at the bamboo slips and looked up at Chen Mo in surprise. The content of the letter was indeed not much, only more than a hundred words, but the news attached to it was really unpleasant.

Xuzhou is in the rear of Cao Cao. Cao Cao has always been sandwiched between Chen Mo, Yuan Shao and Yuan Shu. Although he occupies the two states of Yan and Yu, they are densely populated and have many talented people. He even intercepted the emperor from Chen Mo and gained a glimmer of hope for himself.

After all, it was still the place of the Four Wars, surrounded by the three major princes and Liu Bei.

But now that Xuzhou has been taken, the situation is different. It is equivalent to opening a gap for yourself. It was originally surrounded by four sides, but now it is surrounded by three sides.

Moreover, when Xuzhou was captured, Yuan Shu did not support and just watched Liu Bei's destruction. This was really strange. Xun You remembered that at the beginning of the year, Liu Bei had sent counselor Jian Yong to persuade Yuan Shu to form an alliance with Liu Bei.

"It happened three months ago. After all, Xuzhou is too far away from me, and it is under the jurisdiction of Cao Cao in the middle. The information is not very smooth. I sent troops to Xiliang again, but the information was not sent in time." Chen Mo shook his head and said with a smile: "Meng

Brother De is quite good at finding the right opportunity."

Now Cao Cao and Yuan Shaoke are still in an alliance, and Cao Cao has chosen the right time to send troops to Xiliang. This is a perfect time.

"Yuan Shu actually sat back and watched Liu Bei's defeat!?" Xu Shu looked at the bamboo slips in confusion and said.

"Cao Cao made Sun Ce the governor of Yangzhou." Chen Mo looked at the bamboo slips handed back and sighed: "It turned out that before Sun Ce could do anything, Yuan Shu actually sent troops across the river first to attack Sun Ce. In the end, Sun Ce was held back, and Cao Cao took the opportunity to seize Xuzhou."

Xun You and Xu Shu were a little regretful after hearing this. Was Yuan Shu wrong? In fact, Yuan Shu was not wrong. At first, he dominated the rich and prosperous places such as Nanyang and Runan, but in the end, the two largest counties were taken away by Cao Cao. Now he only

Yangzhou was left, and Yuan Shu had always suppressed Sun Ce. He refused Sun Ce the positions of governor of Jiujiang and Lujiang. This was something Yuan Shu did unethically, but he was also worried about Sun Ce's development. Even later, after Sun Ce captured Danyang,

Yuan Shu also sent someone to serve as the governor of Danyang, but Sun Ce drove him away.

It is precisely because of this that conflicts began to arise between Sun Ce and Yuan Shu, especially after Sun Ce captured Kuaiji and gradually began to escape Yuan Shu's control.

Now that Cao Cao has directly given the official position of Yangzhou Governor to Sun Ce, what does Yuan Shu think? At that time, Sun Ce even captured Wu County. Almost all the land in Jiangdong, except for Yuzhang, was annexed by Sun Ce, and his power was no longer under Yuan Shu's control.

Next, if Sun Ce is not destroyed while Sun Ce's foundation is stable, Yuan Shu will become Sun Ce, a piece of fat between Liu Bei and Cao Cao, and there is no danger to defend, so from Yuan Shu's perspective, Yuan Shu is not wrong.

The advantage of having the emperor in hand was also reflected at this time. With just one sentence, Yuan Shu and Sun Ce broke up and attacked each other, giving Cao Cao a precious opportunity.

Although Zhang Zhiyong was concerned and Chen Gong was helping him, Liu Bei's foundation was not stable, and the soldiers and people of Xuzhou were deeply afraid of Cao Cao. Cao Cao had massacred Pengcheng before. Many local wealthy families directly instigated Cao Cao after he invaded Xuzhou.

The local magistrate surrendered, or directly helped Cao Cao open the city gate.

Since Liu Bei entered Xuzhou, he has been governing Xuzhou with benevolence and righteousness, and the laws are relatively loose. Firstly, he has just arrived, and in order to stabilize his position, he must make good friends with the local gentry. Secondly, Liu Bei has always acted in the name of benevolence and righteousness.

But how can I put it, the disadvantage of benevolence and righteousness is that the price of betrayal is low, and Cao Cao's ruthless methods also make people fearful. Therefore, after feeling that Liu Bei could not resist Cao Cao, the counties and counties in Xuzhou almost surrendered, even if Chen Deng

The father and son were willing to help, but Yuan Shu was dragged to Jiangdong by Sun Ce, and Cao Cao's offensive was too fierce. From the time he invaded Xuzhou to the end of his army, in less than half a month, the Chen family could only retreat to Guangling, and submitted a letter of surrender to Cao Cao, willing to surrender.

imperial court.

Although Liu Bei was related to Zhang Zhiyong and had Chen Gong on his side to advise him, Cao Cao chose the time too well and had no allies around him. He could only fight against Cao Cao alone. In the end, Xiapi was defeated by Cao Cao because of Cao Bao's secret collusion. Liu Bei

He could only save his family, and retreated to the East China Sea with the help of the Mi family. He left Langxie and went directly to Yuan Tan in Qingzhou. He was able to save his life, but Xuzhou also changed hands since then, and Liu Bei became a prince from one side.

, once again returned to the state of being dependent on others.

In this way, the pattern of the three heroes in the Central Plains was completely formed. Cao Cao held the emperor and dominated the Central Plains, and Yuan Shao occupied the land of the three states of Qingyou and Hebei. Although Congsun Zan has not yet been completely defeated, it is only a matter of time, and

Chen Mo has now pacified Xiliang, occupied the land of Longxing, and is eyeing the Central Plains. The pattern of the three heroes is 10%. Unless there are some major changes, it will be difficult to break this pattern in a short time.

This is the outcome that Chen Mo least wants to see. Even if it is Cao Cao who occupies the Central Plains, in this matter, as long as he can hold on, Chen Mo will never give Cao Cao any chance.

It's a pity that God doesn't fulfill his wishes, or in other words, God never sides with anyone. Chen Mo wanted to eliminate future troubles and personally supervise the war in Xiliang. This was something he had decided long ago. However, Cao Cao was able to seize this fleeting opportunity.

At this time, everyone could only sigh with emotion at Cao Cao's brilliance.

"After all, we couldn't stop it." Chen Mo sighed, then smiled and said: "The matter has come to this, and it is useless to say anything else. Don't let this mess us up and continue to do our business."

Xun You nodded silently, he could take it up and let it go, not caring about what had happened. In this regard, although Chen Mo was young, he did have the qualifications to be a hero, not much worse than Yuan Shao and Cao Cao.

"Lord, now that the pattern of the Central Plains has been decided, the strategy we set in the past..." Xu Shu looked at Chen Mo, and based on the previously decided strategy, he promoted an alliance between Liu Bei, Yuan Shu and Lu Bu, allowing the three of them to contain Cao Cao, while Chen Mo waited for the opportunity.

And move, after pacifying Xiliang, the troops leave Hulao, join forces with Yuan Shao to carve up Cao Cao's territory, and most importantly, recapture the emperor. After all, the current court is supported by the three gongs and nine ministers, but many powers, with the Juancheng court

The establishment no longer has the rightful name.

Just like the matter of canonizing a state as a governor, Chen Mo can do so here, but Sun Ce cannot. If Cao Cao hadn't canonized Sun Ce in the name of the Emperor, Xuzhou would not have been captured so easily by Cao Cao.

But now that Sun Ce suddenly emerged and held off Yuan Shu at the most critical moment, causing Cao Cao to occupy Xuzhou, then without Liu Bei as part of the previous strategy, it seemed that Yuan Shu would not be able to sustain it for long, and it would obviously be difficult to save.

"Develop people's livelihood and wait for the times to change." Chen Mo knocked on the table, looked at everyone and said: "Send someone to send gifts to Cao Cao, and at the same time befriend Yuan Shao. The next battle will not be easy, let's see if we can win the championship.

Let’s go to the land of Xiang.”

Now Chen Mo's advantage is the location, and his disadvantage is the population. After Guanzhong experienced Dong Zhuo and Li Guo's rebellion, the population was much lower than before. Bingzhou and Xiliang are both areas with depleted populations. Although Chen Mo sits on the land of three states, in fact,

Even if Xiliang is included, the population is probably not as high as that of Jizhou or Yanzhou, or Yuzhou alone.

Population represents the potential for war, so when the situation has become overwhelming and it is difficult to decide the winner in a hurry, Chen Mo thinks that it may be feasible to develop in isolation now and then see if he can annex Jingxiang. He can consider subduing Lu Bu and then go south to capture Jingxiang.

In order to strengthen itself, Jingxiang is also a place where money and food are abundant.

"What my lord said is true, but if my lord can capture the land of Shu, he can also secure a stable rear area." Xu Shu bowed and said.

Shu land...

Chen Mo thought for a while and finally shook his head. Shu is not easy to fight. The three heroes of the Central Plains stand side by side, all looking at each other's weaknesses. If you want to defeat Shu, you must fight quickly, but Shu is obviously not something that can be fought quickly.

Chen Mo has studied the map of Shu. If he wants to fight, don't think about it every three to five years. But whether Cao Cao or Yuan Shao, can they give themselves three to five years to strengthen themselves?

"The road to Shu is difficult. If our army wants to attack Shu, even with the help of Zhang Lu, I am afraid it will be difficult to achieve success in a short period of time."

Surpass the two great princes Yuan Shao and Cao Cao!"

The nine counties of Jingxiang are the land of money and food, and the population is also large. In recent years, there have been wars in the Central Plains, and many people have fled to Jingxiang. If he can get the land with the population of Jingxiang, Chen Mo can reverse the situation. Not only is the location advantageous, but also

There is a population.

"What Gongda said is true." Chen Mo nodded and said with a smile: "But the most important thing right now is to completely conquer Xiliang, stabilize the people's hearts, and develop farming."

In this day and age, nothing can be done without food.
Chapter completed!