In the hall, only Cao Zhen, Xu Shu, and Zhang Hu and Chen Tai were the ones who were accompanying him.

Zhang Hu is the son of Zhang Liao, and Chen Tai is the son of Chen Qun. Both father and son are officials in the State of Wei, and their official positions are not low. Therefore, Zhang Hu and Chen Tai are both generals trusted by Cao Zhen, and they are not considered idle people.

Xu Shu looked at Zhang Hu and Chen Tai, and then said, "Two generals, please go out and watch. No one can enter."

Xu Shu was obviously trying to break through Zhang Hu and Chen Tai.

Zhang Hu and Chen Tai hesitated for a moment, looked at Cao Zhen, and Cao Zhen nodded slightly and signaled that they would go out first.

At this time, Cao Zhen also felt quite puzzled. Chen Tai and Zhang Hu, their father Chen Qun and Zhang Liao were all people trusted by Cao Cao. Chen Qun was a civil servant, and Zhang Liao was also the top among military generals. It can be said that their family was already associated with the Wei State and was also the most trusted general Cao Zhen is now.

As the prime minister, Xu Shu could not have known this, but he still had to send them away, which made Cao Zhen feel extraordinary.

"Prime Minister, you are..."

"General, please be careful not to be impatient." Xu Shu looked around cautiously, then slowly reached his hand into his arms, took out a brocade handkerchief and handed it to Cao Zhen.

Seeing Xu Shu's solemn expression, Cao Zhen couldn't help but step forward, took the brocade handkerchief with both hands, and opened it carefully.

"Ah, this is..." Cao Zhen's face changed abruptly, then a hint of joy rose, and exclaimed in a trembling voice: "This, this is Xingyang's defense map!"

The "Xingyang" mentioned by Cao Zhen is not the Xingyang City, but the entire Xingyang area.

Xingyang is a military important place in history. Xingyang has a Honggou connecting the Huaihe River and Sishui River in the east, the Mangshan Mountain in the north, the Suohe River in the south, and the Luoyang Mountain in the west. The terrain is dangerous and the transportation is convenient. It is known as the "two capitals and the throat of the Three Qins". To be precise, the Xingyang defense zone is not only Xingyang City, but also includes Hulao Pass and dozens of nearby Ao Cang. Most of these Ao Cangs were established in the Qin Dynasty. Ao Cangs were stored in Ao Cang and troops were joined with the main city of Xingyang and Hulao Pass to form a three-dimensional defense line. In the face of this three-dimensional defense line, even Cao Cao suffered a great loss and lost his troops.

If it is just a city, a defense map will not be so important. However, if you face a three-dimensional defense like Xingyang, a complete defense map will have much more significance. Cao's army can attack those relatively weak places and will rescue them if they attack.

After a long time, Cao Zhen gradually recovered, and Cao Zhen also realized that he had indeed lost his composure just now.

"Prime Minister, this picture is real, how did you get it?" Cao Zhen asked, but then Cao Zhen found out that he had asked a very stupid question. How could he give him a fake drawing according to Xu Shu's identity?

"General, this drawing is of course true. As for where it comes from..." He paused and said, "Please forgive me and have nothing to say."

"Ah?" Cao Zhen was stunned at first, but then a little dissatisfaction arose in his heart. Then, the dissatisfaction turned into doubt again.

Cao Zhen is Cao Cao's adopted son and a general. There is no way to hide anything in the court from Cao Zhen, but now Xu Shu doesn't tell him, which makes Cao Zhen feel dissatisfied, and then Cao Zhen feels confused again, what important thing is actually to hide it from him.

Cao Zhen took a look at the Xingyang defense map again. The defense map was written in very detailed. Such detailed defenses could definitely not be detected by one or two spies. Not to mention one or two, even a dozen or even dozens of spies around him could not get such detailed pictures.

The only possibility is a traitor.

Then Cao Zhen looked at the arrangements of Ao Cang carefully and immediately remembered that there were so many Ao Cang in Xingyang area, and each Ao Cang had troops stationed. It was absolutely not something that ordinary spies could do. Those who could produce such detailed defense maps must be the upper-level generals of the Han army.

"Who will it be?" Cao Zhen lowered his head with confusion. There were only a few high-level generals in Xingyang City, but after thinking about it carefully, no one could be a spy sent by the Wei State.

"What's going on?" Cao Zhen looked at Xu Shu next to him, and Xu Shu was still sitting there with a smile on his face.

"Prime Minister, this..."

"General, you don't have to guess. This matter can be transmitted to your ears through my mouth. Never let others know that this picture is not easy for us. If there is any mistake, Taizu's decades of hard work will be wasted." Xu Shu said solemnly.

Cao Zhen nodded a little suddenly. The implicit meaning in Xu Shu's words was that the spy was sent by Cao Cao to Liu Bei. If the origin of this drawing and too many people knew about it, it would definitely be exposed.

Cao Zhen tried hard to recall that it was sometimes when he followed Cao Cao. Cao Cao regarded Cao Zhen as his biological son and almost talked about it. However, Cao Zhen heard about this spy for the first time.

After thinking about it, Cao Zhen still felt that there was a strange feeling in it. If this spy was really sent in by Cao Cao back then, why did he even hide it from him?

Perhaps Xu Shu felt Cao Zhen’s doubts, but Xu Shu sighed slightly, then said, “General, this picture was handed over to me by Your Majesty himself. When I got it, I was also very surprised. But my ministers should know how to advance and retreat. If Your Majesty didn’t intend to reveal it, we… well…”

Xu Shu brought Cao Rui out this time, which made Cao Zhen's confusion slightly dissipate. This emperor's heart has been the most difficult and unpredictable since ancient times. If this was Cao Rui's arrangement, then there must be Cao Rui's own reason. It is not a good thing to guess the intention of his own when he is idle.

"Prime Minister, since that's the case, I won't ask more." Cao Zhen sighed slightly, but a feeling of loss arose in his heart.

As a relative of the Cao clan, Cao Rui obviously trusted Xu Shu more in such a major event. If you think about it carefully, Cao Zhen fought everywhere for the sake of Wei and made many military achievements. He worked very hard, but in the end, what Cao Rui trusted the most was Xu Shu. This made Cao Zhen feel a little sad and jealous.

"If the general is worried, why not attack according to the drawings and try it. I am willing to stay in Chenliu City for the general in case of an accident. If the drawings are fake or other accidents, Zu can lead troops to support him." Xu Shu continued.

Cao Zhen nodded slightly. According to Xu Shu's intention, he left a few people to help Cao Zhen in Chenliu. If something unexpected happened in front of him, Xu Shu could lead his troops to help him. This is indeed a safe way.

"Okay, since that's the case, I'll be bothering the Prime Minister, but how many people do the Prime Minister need?"

"Haha, the soldiers are in the spirit but not in the number of them, one or two thousand people are enough! Besides, Chenliu is the rear of the general, a place for food and grass supply, and there are also these 100,000 civilians, which can be used as military use if necessary."

"Okay, then I will allocate 20,000 elite troops for the Prime Minister to dispatch."

Xu Shu walked out of Cao Zhen's mansion, looked up at Changtian, and sighed slightly.

At present, everything is in Xu Shu's plan. However, Xu Shu was angry and confused deep in his heart.

In Wei State for so long, maybe everything was about to end, and Xu Shu couldn't help but feel uneasy.

"Everything is ready... After so many years, it's time to get a final say!"

The main city of Xingyang.

The area of ​​Xingyang Defense Zone is not large, and the main city of Xingyang is the head of the Xingyang Defense Zone. As long as the main city is not lost, the Ao Cang on the outer side will be lost, and it doesn’t matter.

Now there are no people in the main city of Xingyang, and all the people left behind are soldiers. It can be said that the main city of Xingyang has become a real military fortress.

Xingyang is located at the junction of Wei and Shu Han. It was originally a place where wars were more likely to happen, so the people naturally would not live here. Since A Dou occupied this place, he has been preparing to operate Xingyang into a fortress. Therefore, those who live in the middle-aged city are just vendors who open shops to provide daily business for soldiers in the city. Now, even these vendors have long since the war broke out. Now, in Xingyang City, except for the soldiers patrolling back and forth, there are no one else seen in the city.

The city lord's mansion was very cautious, and Wang Pingzheng was in charge.

As the first line of defense in the east of Luoyang and the only line of defense, the Xingyang Defense Zone is responsible for resisting the invasion of the Wei army. Wei Yan knew that Wang Ping was safe in an accident, so it was reasonable for Wang Ping to defend Xingyang. However, now, the highest commander of Xingyang is not Wang Ping, but Adou.

The school walked in, came to Wang Ping, knelt down and said, "General, the spy we arranged in Yanjin Port has heard news. There was no grain ship crossing the river yesterday."

"I understand, go down." Wang Ping nodded. When the school went out, he stood up and bowed to a person dressed in a personal soldier behind him, and then said: "Your Majesty, it seems that the food and grass of Cao Zhen's army have fainted to Chenliu. It is impossible for food to be transported in a short time."

"Yes, the food has been transported enough. Next, Cao Zhen may be attacking Xingyang. Is there any news about Yingchuan and Bingzhou?" A Dou, dressed in a personal soldier, asked.

"When you go back to your Majesty, Wang Ling, the Governor of Bingzhou, did not make any abnormal movements; and in Xudu, Xiahou Ba, the Governor of Yuzhou, did not make any abnormal movements."

"Well, it seems that Cao Rui has pressed all the treasures on Cao Zhen this time."

"Your Majesty, Cao Zhen's food and grass are now stockpiled in Chenliu. We might as well send cavalry to Chenliu. If Cao Zhen's food and grass can be destroyed, Cao Zhen will retreat!" Wang Ping said.

"Oh?" A Dou looked at Wang Ping in surprise. Wang Ping has always been steady in his work, and this radical idea does not look like Wang Ping's style. On the contrary, people like Wei Yan who likes to take risks can use this kind of adventure trick.
Chapter completed!