madnovel Chapter [283] Cao Liu's Direction
Chapter [283] Cao Liu's Direction
Xu County.
Cao Cao summoned his men to discuss matters in civil and martial arts. Looking around at the people in the hall, Cao Cao was not in a high mood.
Civil servants are still full of talents, and the Yingchuan family provides a large number of counselors and civil officials.
But the number of military generals who were equally numerous at the beginning is now withered, and now there are only three high-level generals left: Cao Ren, Xiahou Dun, and Dian Wei.
Cao Ying's generals were almost completely wiped out by Lu Bu. Maybe the next time the war broke out, the three remaining generals would suffer losses, or even be wiped out.
"Huh~" Cao Cao exhaled heavily, adjusted his mentality, and then said: "The current situation is not good [Let's discuss how we should deal with it."
It's not just that the situation is bad now, Cao Cao had never been so desperate when facing Yuan Shao's attack.
Although the territory has been preserved now, the military strength has been greatly damaged, and the military's combat power has fallen precipitously.
Especially if Lu Bu led the Central Plains Qin army to retreat smoothly, Lu Bu may make a comeback at any time. This is undoubtedly like a sharp sword hanging over Cao Cao's head, and he does not know when it will fall and cut off Cao Cao's head.
"My lord, there is no need to worry about the Qin army attacking again in a short time." Xun Yu said: "After all, the Qin army is also human, and they will feel tired."
"But don't take it lightly. If the Qin army wants to attack us, it is very convenient." Xun Yu thought for a while and began to say: "If possible, 04[It would be better to take back Hulao."
Cao Cao remained silent. He didn't know the importance of Hulao Pass, which was the only gateway to the Central Plains.
But now there are only 20,000 elite veterans in hand, what will be used to recapture Hulao Pass?
It's hard for a clever woman to cook without rice. Even if Cao Cao has great abilities, it's useless without soldiers.
Especially when attacking Hulao Pass, you have to face the terrifying ordnance of the Qin army again.
When he was at Hangu Pass, Cao Cao had already experienced it. Without a hundred thousand troops, Cao Cao dared not even think about taking back Hulao Pass.
"Expand the army." Guo Jia said in a deep voice: "We have no danger to defend, we are very passive strategically, there are too many places to defend, and we need to use a large number of troops.
"If the Qin army wants to make a comeback, it can send troops from three directions."
"The first is Hulao Pass, the second is to cross the river from Hebei to attack, and the third is to attack from Qingzhou."
"By the way, Jingbei is also our territory, and the Qin army can still go out of Wuguan to attack Nanyang."
Hearing Guo Jia's analysis, Cao Cao became more and more irritable. The Qin army could attack from any point in these four directions, or even attack from all four directions at the same time, but he had to guard against it.
The initiative is completely in Lu Bu's hands, and Cao Cao has no fortresses to defend him. Just hearing about this situation can't help but make people despair.
Xun Yu immediately opened his mouth and stated an even more desperate fact.
"If we want to expand the army, our food and grass are not enough to support it..."
Xun Yu was in charge of Cao Cao's logistics, and if Xun Yu said that there was no food, it was true that there was no food.
"How could this be?" Cao Cao frowned.
"The previous battle with Yuan Shao and the confrontation in Xu County, including the provision of food and grass to the Sun and Liu families, consumed a lot of food and grass." Xun Yu explained.
Fighting is burning money. Not everyone can be as rich as Lu Bu. Cao Cao, who sits in the Central Plains, is not short of food. The consumption will naturally be large.
Originally, it was just that there were no soldiers on hand, but now it is found that there is no food, and even the expansion of the army cannot be achieved.
Cao Cao was astonished to find that he seemed to have fallen into a deadlock. If he went on like this, he could only wait for death. As soon as Lu Bu came, he would be finished.
"You bastard! Can't you do anything now?" Cao Cao felt extremely annoyed, this feeling was too uncomfortable.
The Qin army would attack at any time, but its own side was unable to expand its army and could do nothing, so it could only sit and wait for death. This situation almost tortured Cao Cao to death.
"My lord, I heard that Jingbei is very rich, and every family has surplus food and wealth."
Cao Cao's eyes were fixed when he heard the words, and he understood the meaning behind the words. The words were very cryptic, but when he said them in this scene, the meaning was self-evident.
"Cao Ren, you take the army to Jingbei, and you must get enough military resources." Cao Cao ordered in a deep voice.
Those who achieve great things don't care about small details. Cao Cao's generation of heroes can do it by massacring cities and destroying countries.
"Not only do you want to grab money from the living, but don't let go of the money from the dead."
Cao Cao was really impatient this time, and he opened his mouth about stealing graves and digging graves.
Don't underestimate the matter of tomb robbery, the Han Dynasty has a very strong burial atmosphere, even ordinary people, if they have any spare money, they will throw it in the tomb as a funeral.
It can be said that the dead in the world today are definitely richer than the living in the world, and tomb robbery can definitely bring a lot of wealth.
During the Three Kingdoms period, both Cao Wei and Dong Wu, officials could be promoted by robbing tombs, which shows what the social atmosphere at that time was like.
Under Cao Cao's order, Cao Ren and Xiahou Dun became the second generals of Hengha, one responsible for robbing the living and the other responsible for robbing the dead.
Xuzhou.
"Revisiting the old place gives people a different feeling." Standing on the top of Xuzhou City, Liu Bei couldn't help but sigh with emotion.
"Indeed." Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan lightly in agreement.
"Oh? Kong Ming also felt this way?" Liu Bei couldn't help being surprised.
"Hehe, my lord doesn't know everything." Zhuge Liang explained with a smile: "I am originally from Langya, Xuzhou. When the Central Plains was in war, I went to live in Jingzhou to avoid the chaos.
"I see." Liu Bei nodded, and then asked: "Kong Ming, what should we do next? Why do I feel that the road ahead is bleak?"
It's nothing more than Liu Bei feels this way. Now that Lu Bu is powerful, he has trapped the three families of Cao, Liu, and Sun to death.
In the Central Plains, Cao Cao and Liu Bei are crowded together and cannot attack each other. This will consume each other's strength, but will give Lu Bu a chance.
"My lord, there is still Qingzhou." Zhuge Liang reminded: "Qingzhou is just north of Xuzhou, we can attack Qingzhou.
"I heard that Lu Bu sent his general Zhang Liao to the town, and there are 40,000 troops stationed there." Liu Bei continued, "I once heard Yun Chang mention Zhang Liao, who is quite skilled in martial arts, and Yun Chang also values him very much. There are not many people who praise him with words, which is enough to show Zhang Liao's ability.
Liu Bei also fell into the same predicament as Cao Cao, that is, he had no soldiers and no food.
And Cao Cao doesn't want to be famous, at least he can put down his airs and grab money and food from the living and the dead.
But Liu Bei is different. No matter in Huainan or Xuzhou, Liu Bei is quite famous, and Guan Yu and Zhao Yun can't do the thing of leading troops to plunder, and Zhuge Liang will not come up with such an idea.
Therefore, Cao Cao's method will definitely not work with Liu Bei.
"The Mi family in the East China Sea is extremely rich and can be used as military funds." Zhuge Liang said flatly.
You can't do things like robbing people, but robbing wealthy businessmen is fine. Because of the background of the times, businessmen have always been looked down upon, and they are at the bottom of society. If you don't rob them, who else will you rob?
Moreover, it is not appropriate to use robbery. Now that Liu Bei is in Xuzhou, he can visit him at home. Naturally, it will have the effect of "extorting" 100% of the time.
"The Mi family can solve the urgent need, but it is not a long-term solution." Liu Bei did not object, but he still disliked that the money was not enough.
"You can borrow some from Jiangdong, plus the family property of the Mi family, it is enough to support the expansion of the Lord's army." Zhuge Liang said calmly: "After the autumn harvest, the Lord will be able to send troops to Qingzhou
It will be much better after taking Qingzhou. "
Since ancient times, there has been money in Qingzhou, and it relies on the sea to eat the sea.
If Liu Bei can win Qingzhou, the money, food and population will be greatly improved.
"Borrow directly, can Jiangdong give it to us?" Liu Bei hesitated: "Even if I give some to save face, I'm afraid it won't be too much?"
"Indeed." Zhuge Liangliang nodded, "But it can be done in another way."
"In what way?"
"Marriage, more relatives, let Jiangdong give more dowry." Zhuge Liang shook his feather fan lightly and smiled: "The position of the master's family is vacant, so it is just right to marry a grandson's daughter as his wife.
"This..." Liu Bei looked embarrassed, "I am in the same generation as Sun Jian, how can I marry at such a great age? Women of the same generation as Sun Jian must be married as wives, so is it possible to marry Sun Jian's younger generation? "
"It's for the revival of the Han Dynasty, my lord sacrifices a bit." Zhuge Liang persuaded: "Don't worry, my lord, I will personally cross the river to propose a marriage, and promise to facilitate this matter.
"Then... okay." Liu Bei smiled helplessly, and could only agree.
In the face of national affairs, age is not a problem. As long as the marriage can be facilitated, it will be beneficial to both Sun and Liu. It will make the original alliance closer and get a lot of assistance from Jiangdong. .