"Prime Minister, you may not be able to lead a large army to the north at this time!"

"Mr. Wen Ruo, why do you say that the Prime Minister is not suitable for the Northern Expedition? Now that the Yuan family's power in Hebei has declined, Yuan Rang brother has captured more than half of Jizhou. Such a great opportunity, as long as the Prime Minister launches a large army to personally expedition, he will be able to defeat the Yuan family and wipe out Hebei in one fell swoop." Cao Ren, the military general on the left, asked in confusion. After leading his army to attack Runan a few months ago and returned from a crushing defeat, Cao Ren, who was seriously injured, has been recuperating in the mansion until he recovered a few days ago. Although he was wiped out by 30,000 elite "Qingzhou soldiers" due to unfavorable combat, Cao Cao did not punish Cao Ren too much, but only demoted his position as "General Zhennan" to "General Xingzhennan". (Note: "Xing" means agent)

"General Zixiao, based on the current situation, it may not be so easy to destroy the Yuan family and wipe out Hebei!" Xun Yu stroked his chin and said in a deep voice: "Even if there is Guandu and Pingqiu was defeated twice, even if Yuan Shao died and Jizhou lost most of it, Yuan's army could still find an opportunity to establish a firm foothold when it was defeated all the way. It can be seen that the Yuan family has been operating in Hebei for more than ten years, and the solid foundation is somewhat beyond our original expectations.

Now the Yuan Rang general suffered consecutive setbacks in the Bohai Sea. After Zhending, the spirit of the army has gradually lost. Once Yuan Tan's army stabilized its position, they can draw troops from You and the two states to support it. In this way, I will lose and the other side will grow, and a stalemate has been established. Even if the prime minister leads a large army to conquer, it will be difficult to pacify the Yuan family for a year or two. If Liu Bei, Liu Biao, and Ma Teng of Xiliang take the opportunity to lead the army to attack again, our army will not be able to take care of each other, and it will inevitably be dangerous!"

"Well! After Pingqiu defeated Yuan Shao that day, I was really too optimistic about the situation in Hebei!" Cao Cao nodded slowly and affirmed Xun Yu's analysis.

"In addition, the existing food and supplies in Xu Du are no longer enough to support the army's conquest again. In the past few months, the Prime Minister dispatched a large army to fight Yuan Shao, Liu Bei and Ma Teng, and the food and grass consumed a lot of food and grass. Although he seized some food and grass when he was conquering Jizhou, it was a drop in the bucket compared to the consumption of the army." Xun Yu said helplessly. In order to maintain the two- or even three-line battles of Cao's army for several months, Xun Yu tried his best to raise food and grass through various channels. It can be said that Xun Yu has used up all the methods that can be used, and it is only a matter of Cheng Yu's "ultimate plan" - man-carrot! But even so, there is not much food and grass left at present. "Prime Minister, within the next two or three months, I'm afraid that it will not be able to dispatch the army to conquer where will it be!"

"Yeah!" Cao Cao also knew that Xun Yu had done his best to do the food and grass, and nodded silently.

"In this way, we will not be able to do anything in the next few months, so we can only let Yuan Tan ignore it?" Cao Ren said a little disappointedly.

"This is not, there are so many things to do!" Guo Jia said with a smile.

"I'm filial piety and say it!" Cao Cao raised his eyebrows slightly and asked in a deep voice.

"Yes, Prime Minister! In his opinion, there are several things that are urgently needed to do now: First, the newly obtained land of Jizhou must be appointed to govern as soon as possible to stabilize the hearts of the people and gather the people. The rich land of Jizhou is densely populated. If farming production can be restored quickly, it will greatly alleviate the shortage of money and food in our army. Second, the Prime Minister and the Dukes should have noticed that now, around our army, Liu Bei, Liu Biao, Liu Biao in Jingzhou, Yuan clan in Hebei, and Ma Teng in Xiliang have vaguely surrounded us. Although any of these parties are not as strong as ours at present, if these four parties join forces, our army will be in danger! To resolve this potential crisis, we must step up

The exchanges with Sun Quan from Jiangdong made him restrain Liu Bei and Liu Biao. Among these four directions, the harm of the two Lius was the most. Liu Biao was entrenched in the nine counties of Jingxiang and had a large number of soldiers and food; although Liu Bei had not many soldiers, only one county in Shouchun, he had many capable ministers and generals under his command. If he controlled these two sides, the prime minister would be able to fight north in peace in the future. The third was to strengthen intelligence and inquire about information and know himself and the enemy, and he could not defeat all the battles. In the previous period, our army had not done its best to conquer Liu Bei, which was largely the fault of the enemy's situation, especially the mysterious person who suddenly surrendered to Liu Bei and planned the battle in Shouchun......" Guo Jia analyzed in an orderly manner one by one, and a trace of wisdom flashed in his eyes.

"Yeah...Yeah...Yeah!" Cao Cao closed his eyes slightly, nodding from time to time to express his approval of Guo Jia's words. After Guo Jia finished speaking, Cao Cao suddenly opened his eyes and said loudly: "The words of filial piety are very consistent with my wishes, so I will act according to this! Wen Ruo, arrange for capable officials to go to Jizhou as soon as possible to take over the counties and counties that have been under our army!"

"Receive the order!" Xun Yu nodded and responded.

"Gongda, you are responsible for sending an envoy to Jiangdong to contact Sun Quan, and do your best to let him restrain Liu Bei, Liu Biao! When you go to Jiangdong this time, remember to bypass Shouchun and not let the envoy get it for Liu Bei's army!" From Xiahou Yuan, Cao Cao had learned that the team sent to Jiangdong to marry was intercepted in Shouchun and he had never arrived in Jiangdong at all, which means that the marriage with Sun Quan had failed!

"As for the Prime Minister's order!" Xun You stood up and bowed and replied.

"Wenhe, what have you gained from inquiring about information from all parties in recent days?" Cao Cao turned to Jia Xu and asked.

"Reported to the Prime Minister, Jingzhou, Hebei, and Xiliang, some new information were found - the detailed work sent to Jingzhou has been investigated by many parties, and confirmed that Liu Biao had reached an alliance with Liu Bei a few days ago; in Hebei, Yuan Tan followed the proposal of his military advisor, and appointed Wuhuan General Tian Yu as General Pingbei, and ordered him to supervise Zhending, and the two counties of Zhongshan to guard the gateway of Xijizhou into Youzhou; in the Xiliang, Ma Teng's son Ma Chao clashed with Han Sui a few days ago, and dozens of casualties were killed or injured on both sides." Jia Xu quickly stood up and replied.

"Well, it's done well!" Cao Cao nodded slightly, then continued to ask: "...What information can Liu Bei find in Shouchun?"

"Report to the Prime Minister, in recent days, the information collection and investigation of Shouchun has been quite difficult and has gained very little!" Jia Xu replied cautiously.

"Why is this?" Cao Cao asked in surprise.

"Since last month, Liu Bei has resumed the implementation of the 'Tail Law' in Shouchun and used it to prevent foreign meticulous works. Whenever the local people in Shouchun found strangers and suspicious figures, they reported to Liu Bei's army to arrest him. In the first and second half of the month, more than 60 meticulous works were trapped in Shouchun. Now it is impossible to send meticulous works to investigate in Shouchun, so they have gained little!"

After hearing Jia Xu's explanation, Cao Cao frowned slightly. But he also knew that under such circumstances, it was no wonder that Jia Xu could not find the information.

"Mr. Wenhe, have you ever found out who was planning the battle for Liu Bei's army to fight for the battle in Shouchun?" Guo Jiawei pondered and said out loud.

"It was not possible to find out...but Liu Bei seemed to have appointed a new military advisor!"

"Oh~! Do you know the name of this person?" Guo Jia asked in harmony with Jia Xu's meaning.

"I only know that this person's surname is Xu, but no one else knows!"

Guo Jia spread his sword eyebrows slightly, turned around and said to Cao Cao, "Prime Minister, nothing unexpected happens. Liu Bei, the newly appointed military advisor of Xu, is that mysterious man!"

"Yeah!" Cao Cao nodded and said in a deep voice: "It should be so! This person's strategy is quite good and can be called a great talent. In the past, the reason why Liu Bei lost his city and land several times and ran around was because of the lack of such talents that could plan for him in the long term. But now with this person's support, Liu Bei will be like a tiger! Wenhe, you must try your best to find out the details of this person. If possible, try to get rid of him from Liu Bei!"

"Yes, Jia Xu receives the order!"

"Prime Minister, what should I do if I ask my brother for help?" Cao Ren asked anxiously.

After thinking for a while, Cao Cao said, "Zixiao, you can send 5,000 reinforcements from Yu Yuanrang, but you have to use it for the attack, but instead guard the newly obtained land of Jizhou. When conquering Hebei, you can only make plans after you get the new grain harvest!"

"Yes, Prime Minister!"

………………………………………………….

On the second day of the fifth month of the sixth year of Jian'an, the governor of Chaisang County was in the study.

"Uncle, have you heard some rumors circulating in Jiangdong counties recently?" A young man with a white face and a pair of strange and blue-eyed clothes said to a middle-aged man sitting at his head with concern. This young man with blue-eyed eyes was the general who was attacking the enemy in the six counties of Jiangdong, Sun Quan, the prefect of Chaisang.

"What Zhongmou said is a rumor that Duke Zhou was cautious in his intention to be unjust!" The middle-aged man was Sun Quan's uncle, Sun Jing and Sun Youtai.

"That's it! Uncle, what do you think this matter is true or false?" Sun Quan nodded and said.

"Tsk~~!" Sun Jing frowned and thought for a while, and said in a deep voice: "Dong Jing Zhou should not be a traitor! He and Bo Fu are brothers who have a life-and-death relationship. Besides, Bo Fu even said it before his death, so he would not forget it!" Although Sun Jing said this, his tone was not so sure.

"Uncle, I don't think so!" Another young man in the room, who was seventeen or eighteen years old and quite strong, said in the insult, it was Sun Quan's younger brother Sun Yi and Sun Shubi.

"When my elder brother was alive, all the soldiers of the six counties in Jiangdong were in the hands of my Sun family, so Zhou Yu naturally had no intention of being unfaithful. But now, most of the army and horses in Jiangdong were under Zhou Yu's command, and there were only a few soldiers and horses that were truly in the hands of my Sun family. The master was weak and the ministers were strong, so it was hard to guarantee that he would not have any unfaithful intentions!" Sun Yi seemed quite dissatisfied with Zhou Yu.

"What Shubi said is reasonable. How can the Jiangdong army be controlled by people not from my Sun clan? If it is to let Old General Cheng, Old General Huang and other old ministers who have followed his uncle and brothers who have been fighting in the Long March for many years in charge of military and horses, it is more reassuring, but Zhou Yu is not reassuring." Sun Jing's son Sun Yu said.

"Don't talk nonsense!" Sun Jing scolded Sun Yu sternly, then turned around and said to Sun Quan: "Zhongmou, Zhou Gongjin should be trustworthy. The rumors outside should be nonsense!"

"But no wind can make waves. If Zhou Yu had no such intention, why was there such a rumor? Why did this rumor point to Zhou Yu, not to Mr. Zhang (Zhang Zhao), Mr. Cheng, Mr. Huang and others? I thought it would be better to believe that he had, than to believe that he had!" Sun Yi shook his head and retorted unconvincedly.

"This..." Sun Jing couldn't say anything, and was suddenly stopped.

Sun Quan frowned, feeling uneasy, and was really panicked - if Zhou Yu really turned against him, he would be very likely to succeed with the troops he possessed and his prestige in the army.

Just as Sun Quan was hesitating, a voice suddenly came from outside the study door.

"You have reported to the lord, the governor of Zhou of Poyang has arrived urgently!"

Zhou Yu's urgent matter??!!! All the Sun clan members in the room were confused. Sun Jing hurriedly got up and opened the door. He took a silk book from the military staff responsible for sending the letter outside the door, and then handed it over to Sun Quan.

Sun Quan quickly opened the sealing bag, took out the silk book and browsed it. Soon, a strange color appeared on his face.

"Zhongmou, what's going on?" Sun Jing asked in a deep voice.

"Zhou Yu resigned from the position of governor!"

……………………………….
Chapter completed!