Three Kingdoms

While Zhao Yun was doubting and thinking about Cao Cao's plan, Cao Cao was also thinking about whether Fei Qian had dug another hole.

Everyone has his or her destined opponent.

Even the emperor who claims to be the son of heaven and earth cannot have everything go his way and remain peaceful for a hundred years.

Most people lie down because of helplessness rather than active choice.

You can breathe fresher air while standing and see food or dangers in the distance. Who likes to lie in the mud and dance with the smell of mud and other people's athlete's foot?

Cao Cao never wanted to lie down. Even if he sometimes pretended to lie down, deep down he always longed to ride on others.

No matter male or female.

At the beginning, Cao Cao felt that his opponent should be Yuan Shao, not Fei Qian.

He admitted that this was his biggest mistake, but he was only willing to admit it in his heart and never mentioned it in his mouth or outside.

Fei Qian is now in front of Cao Cao almost all the time, disturbing Cao Cao's mood.

However, even if Cao Cao returns to fight with Er Yuan again, he will still choose to have a fight with Er Yuan first. After all, what is more terrifying than being a man on the left and right is being a man above and below.

After defeating Er Yuan, Cao Cao suddenly discovered that his opponent was not exactly Fei Qian. He also had a potential opponent who had been following him like a shadow ever since he embarked on this road of struggle for hegemony...

This potential opponent is Cao Cao himself.

In other words, the entire Cao political group.

For most people, perhaps having enough food and clothing is the biggest goal in life, but the problem is that Cao Cao will not be satisfied with just "having enough food and clothing". Of course, the most important thing is that Cao Cao does not allow him to just "have enough food and clothing" now. .

He is like a glutton. Maybe at the beginning he only needs a little flesh and blood to temporarily satisfy him, but as his body gets bigger and bigger, more and more creatures are parasitic on and in his body. , he naturally needs more food, more flesh and blood, and even in order to satisfy his desire to eat, he will tear the flesh on his body when he is unbearably hungry, so as to temporarily relieve his hunger and thirst...

Now, this feeling of hunger and thirst is getting stronger and stronger, and it is almost uncontrollable.

This is not just the hunger and thirst of Cao Cao alone, but everyone, all the people attached to Cao Cao, are hungry, clamoring, longing for more, more flesh and blood, and then facing the people around them People or objects, watching with eager eyes.

Cao Cao also made efforts to change and treat this endless hunger and thirst symptom, but he finally discovered that if he wanted to be completely cured, he had to cut his flesh and skin and pull out his bones first. Take out your own heart and liver...

"This disease cannot be cured!" ” said the Cao family’s children.

The Xiahou family members murmured, "Are they going to operate on our flesh and blood first?" Not this time! 』

The powerful nobles in Yuzhou have a pale face on the left and an angry face on the right, "My lord, think twice!" 』

"Prime Minister, you must not!" "The surnames of the big families in Jizhou shocked Hongyu, and then someone bumped into him and died in front of Danjie.

On the throne, Liu Xie squinted and smiled, "Cao Aiqing, are you okay?" 』

In the shadows under their feet, countless innocent souls could no longer see their faces clearly, but they still tried to reach out from under the extremely dark Nine Springs and grabbed Cao Cao, as if trying to drag Cao Cao into the Nine Nether...

Cao Cao shivered, and when he woke up from his dream, he felt that his feet were a little cold and numb, but when he looked carefully, he didn't see any scary black hands on his legs, but the coldness in the dream seemed to be still under his skin. In the bone marrow.

Everyone saw that Cao Cao was relaxed and happy, climbed into this bed, and recruited the widow, but in fact, the pressure in Cao Cao's heart never relaxed from the moment he begged Dong until now.

The sound of footsteps came and stopped outside the big tent.

The sound of small conversations sounded.

It seemed that someone wanted to meet him, but was stopped by the guards.

"who? 』Cao Cao sat upright and regained his calm aura, but the faint sweat on his temples may have become the only flaw in his current calm appearance.

In fact, Cao Cao was prone to killing people in his night dreams not only because he was afraid of being rebelled and assassinated, but there were also other hidden reasons.

"The military advisor asks for an audience. 』Guard pass.

Cao Cao took a deep breath, rubbed his face with his hands, was silent for a moment, and said in a deep voice: "Please." 』

Dong Zhao lowered his head and entered the tent, bowing his hands in greeting.

The guard went to one side, brightened the candle a little, and then added an oil lamp for lighting, so that there was enough light in the tent, and then retreated silently.

Cao Cao motioned Dong Zhao to sit down, and then asked, "What's important?" 』

Of course, this is nonsense. If it wasn't something urgent, Dong Zhao wouldn't come to him before midnight.

"There is an urgent message coming, saying that the hussar general's flag has passed Longyou. It should be at Yumen Pass now, or it has entered the Western Region..." Dong Zhao took out the urgent message from his sleeve and delivered it to Cao Cao by the guard. "Food and fodder are being collected at Longyou and moved to the west. It seems to be for a long war... In addition, there are changes in Wancheng..."

Special emergency military information will be delivered directly to Cao Cao, but for situations like Wancheng that are not very urgent, Cao Cao will naturally not be alerted all the time.

Even the importance of Wancheng is ranked behind the movement of Qiusi...

"There has been a change in Wancheng..." Cao Cao held up the information, faced the candlelight, and squinted at it. Cao Cao didn't even realize that he subconsciously chose the easy solution first.

Dong Zhao's heart suddenly jumped and he quickly lowered his head, pretending that he didn't see Cao Cao's actions.

After reading the urgent message, Cao Cao saw Dong Zhao's appearance, rolled his eyes in a circle, and said with a smile: "Ah haha, this man has dazzled eyes... The candlelight is dim and the small characters are densely covered, it is really difficult to distinguish..."

"It's just that it's late at night and the light is not good. It's the same for everyone. It's hard for Wei Chen to read this small letter clearly..." Dong Zhao quickly replied, "Wei Chen originally wanted to make his letters larger, but it's a pity. It’s just that it’s not easy to send a secret message. It would be inappropriate to write it in large letters, so I just stopped doing it..."

"Well..." Cao Cao smiled, then put down the secret letter and stopped mentioning anything about being old. "This Wancheng Huang Hansheng is really... not simple... Zi Dan is still too reckless... to ruin our troops. What a sin! 』

"General Zidan also wants to share the Lord's worries..." Dong Zhao said, "This is not General Zidan's fault, and the Lord cannot be blamed harshly." However, this Wancheng is a hidden danger after all. If it cannot be eliminated in time, it will definitely contain many soldiers and horses in Jingzhou and Yuzhou..."

Cao Cao narrowed his eyes and no longer mentioned Cao Zhen's fault, but asked: "Does Gongren have any clever ideas?" 』

"When I came here, I had some plans, but there were some shortcomings. I still hope that my lord Haihan..." Dong Zhao cupped his hands and said, "Now Wancheng is really an enclave. If we are forced to advance, we can defend it even more strongly." ... I think it would be better to cut off contact with Wu Guan and devise a plan to lure him. Such and such..."

Dong Zhao's idea is similar to Cao Ren and Cao Zhen's plan, but it will be more meticulous.

When Cao Cao heard this, he laughed, then nodded and said, "This is a wonderful strategy. Just go and do it!" 』

Dong Zhao bowed his hands in agreement, and then said: "My lord, this hussar..."

Cao Cao couldn't help but lowered his head and glanced at the secret message again, reached out and touched it, and said in a tone that seemed a little strange, but also as if there was no difference at all: "This hussar really went to the Western Regions?" 』

"The person who sent the message was a school official who was hiding among the merchants in Longyou. ” Dong Zhao responded, “There is also evidence of the mobilization of grain, grass and soldiers, which should be true. 』

Cao Cao pondered for a moment, narrowed his eyes slightly, and said, "You mean... where the flag of the hussar general is, is where the hussar is?" 』

This may seem a bit difficult to understand, but it is indeed Cao Cao's current consideration.

What do others say?

He was afraid that it would be another trap for Fei Qian. On the surface, he pretended to go to the Western Regions, but in fact he hid it and did not move, or he secretly came back like him...

Scout spies these days don't even have an emergency contact tool, let alone a global positioning system, remote satellite remote sensing, etc. Everything depends on naked eye observation, not to mention that they actually saw Fei Qian's flag. I didn't even see it, I just glanced at it from a few hills away, and reported that I saw it clearly.

As for whether he really saw Fei Qian or not, no one can tell for sure...

This is the embarrassment of not being able to manage it on site.

Later generations of companies say that this is a job with a conscience, and that position is also a job with a conscience. It seems that without a conscience, no one will do it. In fact, whether a company is good or not depends not on the conscience of its employees, but on whether the boss has a conscience.

Just like now, Cao Cao does not have much "conscience" in Shandong, but he knows that Feiqian still has a lot of "conscience", or "people's hearts" in Guanzhong.

Cao Cao was a little irritable in his heart, but on the surface he was still calm and calm. "Since we are using merchants as a cover, we must not be close to the army. It cannot be ten or twenty miles away. Who can see clearly what is written on the flag?" 』

Dong Zhao was stunned for a moment, "My lord, what you mean is... that the golden cicada has escaped from its shell?" Are you actually still in Chang'an? 』

Cao Cao hummed and sighed slightly, "I know, even if Long You really saw the hussar general's flag heading west... But what's the use?" Could it be said that once the flag reaches Longyou, one can be sure that the Hussar must be there? Just like a certain person now sticks a large scroll in Yuyang, can it be said that a certain person is in Yuyang? 』

Dong Zhao didn't know what to say for a moment.

Cao Cao raised his head, pondered for a while, and finally waved his hand, "I don't blame you for this." The Western Region is too far away and it is inconvenient to send messages. What I am worried about now is that the Western Region is not corrupt enough... I am also more worried that Qiaoqi is a cunning, deep, thoughtful and resourceful person. He is also familiar with military affairs and has a deep understanding of military affairs. He must not be taken lightly..."

After a pause, Cao Cao said again: "How can the hussar not know the principle of "know yourself and the enemy, and you will never be defeated in a hundred battles"?" I have a room on the right side of Longlong, so naturally the Hussars also have a room here... A certain person appeared in Yuyang, which is just a neighbor in the Northern Territory. Guanzhong must have known about it... But there is nothing unusual at the moment..."

Cao Cao was very suspicious, and even thought that Fei Qian had just made a false pretense to have a substitute go to the Western Regions, while he was hiding in Chang'an. After all, Cao Cao had heard that Fei Qian had a substitute before, but he probably didn't have one now. Are there three out of five? Anyway, Cao Cao has two of them around him, and they can dress up at any time when necessary.

According to the original plan, Cao Cao's move to leave Jizhou and come to Yuyang could not be concealed. After all, there were too many people in Jizhou, and no one knew who was in whose eyes, so Cao Cao did not hide it at all. But as Cao Cao left the town, it was naturally difficult to be tracked due to the vast area and sparse population, and there was natural secrecy in his actions.

Using oneself to save others, Cao Cao naturally felt that Fei Qian was either up to no good or on the way to do so.

A big event just happened in Husband's Western Region, and then Cao Cao came to Yuyang with great fanfare, which is right on the edge of Zhao Yun's Northern Region. Aren't Fei Qian, Pang Tong and others worried?

No move at all against the Northern Territory?

this……

Obviously not in line with normal concepts.

Something happened in the Western Region, why not take precautions in the Northern Region?

Cao Cao didn't think that Fei Qian would not have thought of this, so there must be some other factors that have not yet been understood...

For example, what new changes are happening in Chang'an?

However, the hidden stakes in Sanfu in Chang'an did not send out any valuable information. Perhaps it was because Fei Qian's Youwensi was too strong, or because these hidden stakes were too weak. All of this made Cao Cao very uneasy. He had trouble sleeping day and night, tossing and turning. He couldn't think clearly, and it took a lot of effort. Naturally, he couldn't sleep well, and it was also difficult to control his emotions.

Cao Cao felt like he was facing a trap, but everything seemed normal on the surface.

But this normality may also mean some kind of abnormality.

If you are playing games and telling jokes, then it is no big deal to choose one at random, or even to be clever and funny. But now the higher the position, the more dangerous it is. If you make a mistake, you will not only lose the army, but also may affect yourself, your family, and others. The entire family was buried in the pit together!

"What's the news from Zhongzhi?" ” asked Cao Cao.

Dong Zhao bowed and responded, "There is no news yet." 』

Cao Cao put his hands behind his back and wandered around the tent a little depressed.

Not everyone is Guo Jia. Dong Zhao can only be regarded as a good secretary to the left-wing staff. He is not bad at checking for deficiencies and some small tactics, but when it comes to insight and strategy, he lays out the entire situation. Grand strategy is relatively worse.

Of course, the good thing about Dong Zhao is that he also knows where his limitations are, so he doesn't jump too high to express opinions, make predictions, or show off his cleverness...

This time Cao Cao and Sun Quan joined forces to curb Fei Qian's development momentum. Strictly speaking, it was not a great opportunity, but that was all. The combination of Sun Quan and Zhou Yu in Jiangdong is shaky and about to collapse. If you wait any longer, there may be other opportunities, but it is also possible that the death of Zhou Yu will trigger civil strife in Jiangdong, and then Jiangdong will basically be in ruins. No support can be provided.

If you fall behind, you will be beaten. People in later generations may think that it was said by a great man of China, but unfortunately, this was first said by the bearded man of the Big Bear family. It's just that this sentence was deeply recognized by many people in China at that time, and they understood the truth, so it was widely circulated. Obviously, Cao Cao now understands this truth to some extent. Even if he couldn't sum it up in such a sentence like the bearded man, it was still a painful realization.

This hussar is really good at running and jumping.

A few years ago, Cao Cao thought that the corners of the Northland were as small as the corners. How many grains could he dig out?

Then there were a few snaps. Cao Cao covered his face and could barely say there were mosquitoes.

In a few years, I feel that Shandong still has great advantages. It has more people, more money and more confidence, and can attack, defend and consume.

Then he slapped and covered his butt again, and even the fake smile on the surface was a little forced.

Cao Cao once thought that he had integrated Jizhou quickly enough, and he trotted all the way while jumping and panting, but when he turned around, he found that Fei Qian had almost conquered all the enemies...

At the beginning, Cao Cao felt as if he could catch Fei Qian by stretching out his hand. When he stretched out his hand, he found that he was out of reach. He had to use a sword or gun to get the length. Then when Cao Cao took out the sword and gun, , found that the sword and gun were no longer useful, and Fei Qian already had armor. When Cao Cao turned around and found the armor-piercing arrow, he saw that the opponent had thrown out gunpowder bombs. When Cao Cao also had gunpowder, he heard that Fei Qian Another secret killer weapon!

Cao Cao turned around and wanted to do it himself, but found that he didn't even have a few craftsmen left. Iron ore and copper ore were constantly being transported to Guanzhong. There was not much left in his own metallurgical shop, and he couldn't even build one if he wanted to!

If one day Fei Qian is ready for everything, fighting in the field cannot stop Fei Qian's cavalry, and standing firm in the city cannot stop the destruction of artillery catapults, then...

Cao Cao sighed deeply and frowned more deeply.

So even if it's not a good opportunity now, you still have to bite the bullet and do it.

But what if this is a trap...

All Cao Cao's current plans depend on Fei Qian actually leaving Chang'an. If there is a problem at this root, the entire plan will be unstable and eventually collapse.

Cao Cao sent Xin Ping to the Northern Territory, on the one hand, to carry out his strategy, but also on the other hand, to test, and to make the next move based on the reaction of the test.

While Cao Cao was thinking, weighing, and considering all aspects of the situation, soldiers hurriedly came from outside, prostrated themselves in front of Cao Cao, and then handed Cao Cao a latest urgent report from near Xuchang.

When Cao Cao saw it, he immediately felt a little angry, and even his expression management was a little unbalanced.

The emergency report stated that there have been a lot of rumors near Xuchang recently, saying that Cao Cao is old and no longer as brave as he used to be. Now Cao Cao is timid and avoids fighting. He cannot advance or retreat. He raises armies without success and wastes money. They said that Cao Cao had secretly made an alliance with Fei Qian, and planned to divide the Han Dynasty equally, using Heluo as the boundary, divide the east and west, and establish their own countries from then on...

Emperor Liu Xie is said to have heard these rumors and publicly rebuked such rumors in the court meeting, saying that he believed in Prime Minister Cao...

But this is of no use. In Xuchang, there are still a lot of people talking about it.

Xun may be tracking down the spreaders of rumors around Xuchang, but there is no way to say that control can be controlled at the moment. After all, rumors are all based on words, whether true or false, and it is difficult for ordinary people to distinguish clearly.

Cao Cao was so angry that his head hurt, but when he was about to get angry, he suddenly stopped again, thought about it carefully, and suddenly burst out laughing, his voice was loud and incomparable, and he seemed to be very happy. …

Dong Zhao was on the side, a little embarrassed, but he still asked, "Lord, why is this... making you laugh?" 』

"I laughed at that Fei Ziyuan..." Cao Cao was halfway through his words when his heart suddenly skipped a beat and he swallowed the second half. His little eyes rolled a few times and he stretched out his hand to wave.

Dong Zhao understood and leaned forward, only to hear Cao Cao whisper, "such and such..."