"Benefits? What benefits can we give him? With an army of tens of thousands, Liu Xuande may not be willing even if he is given a county." Cao Cao frowned.

"Chang'an!" Xi Zhicai said.

"Chang'an? This terrain is useless, what use does Liu Xuande want?" Cao Cao asked in confusion.

"If Yuan Shu captures Xiliang, Chang'an will naturally be useless, but if Yuan Shu is defeated, Chang'an will be a way out, or a way to dominate." Xi Zhicai said with a smile. He was not so kind to find a way out for Liu Bei.

Road, there are many calculations in it.

Cao Cao thought for a while and quickly understood Xi Zhicai's idea, and suddenly realized: "Exchange Guanxi for Yuzhou, Zhicai, you want Liu Bei to..."

"That's right!" Xi Zhicai nodded: "Chang'an is a retreat and an introduction. Liu Bei may choose this place when he is desperate. When the Lord unifies the Central Plains, a lot of pressure will be reduced. Let Liu Xuande enter Guanzhong.

The two of us are at each other's horns, and Yuan Shu will definitely be unable to move."

"But wouldn't this be a recipe for disaster? What if Liu Bei becomes the leader of the Western Qin Dynasty?"

"Haha. My lord, you are worrying too much. Not to mention how many Yuzhou families are willing to follow him in moving west, the food and grass problem alone can make it difficult for Liu Bei to move forward. At this time, Guanzhong is thousands of miles away, and without the support of Yizhou, there is nothing to worry about."

Liu Bei seems to be developing rapidly and has huge power, but in fact, his background is still shallow. He only relies on the large number of talents in Yuzhou, which was once the number one state in the world. The local aristocratic families defected to Liu Bei just for the sake of the Chen family's face and superficial coping. If

If Liu Bei really chooses to take over Guanzhong, it is still unknown how many people will be willing to follow him.

"What's more, Yang Biao has already fallen into the hands of the lord along with the emperor, and the Kansai family obviously doesn't think highly of Liu Bei."

Cao Cao said calmly: "The Guandong and Guanxi families have been at odds with each other for hundreds of years, so why are they so easy to let go? Those families in Yuzhou thought they were superior to others by relying on their achievements in serving the dragon during the reign of Emperor Guangwu, and they have always been at odds with the Guanxi family.

I would feel strange if the aristocratic family chose Liu Bei."

Yuzhou was the place where Emperor Guangwu made his fortune, and there were really a lot of aristocratic families here. Except for the Yang family, three of the four major aristocratic families had their roots here, Yingchuan and Nanyang, and there were wise and resourceful people everywhere. At the time, there were thirteen states in the Han Dynasty, and Yuzhou always ranked first.

, except for Jizhou, which ranks second due to its developed economy and can barely compete with it, the others have to fall back.

The best part of the thirteen states of the Han Dynasty is actually Sili, Yuzhou and Jizhou. The second is Yanzhou, Xuzhou and Qingzhou. The six states are the core areas of the Han Dynasty. The second is the backward places of the four southern states. The last is You, Bing.

, the three major frontiers of Liang.

If you look at the map, Yuan Shu's four southern states are terrifyingly large, but in fact, at the end of the Han Dynasty, the four southern states were all weak states in a peaceful corner. Don't look at what Longzhong said about Jingzhou and Yizhou so well in Zhuge Liang's case.

The north was destroyed, and there were no tigers or monkeys in the mountains to dominate. If Yuan Shu had not worked hard for many years and controlled the four southern states, he might not be as strong as Cao Cao's two states.

"With the Emperor in our hands, we have absolute justice. Especially when facing Liu Bei, a man who made his fortune as a descendant of the Han Dynasty, we are absolutely unfavorable." Xi Zhicai showed a trace of disdain on his lips. Thinking of a prince with a frivolous foundation like Liu Bei,

It's too easy to deal with.

…

Among Liu Bei's troops, Liu Bei was equally excited when he learned that Guan Yu had captured the Hundred Officials. However, before he could be happy, the bad news that the Emperor was in the hands of Cao Cao reached his ears, and his good mood was instantly diluted by the new acquisition of the Hundred Officials.

I have to say that he and Cao Cao really have a good understanding.

"My lord, are you planning to withdraw your troops?" Liu Ye knew the lord Mo Ruochen very well.

"Chang'an has been captured, but it's just an empty city. What else can we do if we don't retreat now?" Although he failed to suppress Yuan Shu and failed to see both Cao Cao and Yuan Shu suffer losses, Liu Bei no longer planned to advance.

"But it's such an anticlimactic withdrawal..." Liu Ye said unwillingly. Although he was quite capable, he could not achieve any outstanding results since he became an official. Small-scale battles were dismissed and the only battle was defeated by Zhou Yu and Sun Ce.

After losing his reputation, he was really feeling aggrieved. He thought that this trip to Guanzhong would allow him to show off his talents, but as a result, Li Jue and Guo Si simply ran away, and Yuan Shu also chose to retreat. Liu Ye was extremely speechless.

"Zi Yang, I know that your ability is definitely not inferior to that of Xi Zhicai and Guo Jia. This time we captured Tongguan and Luoyang and recaptured hundreds of officials. It is already a great victory. I only have one Yuzhou under my command, which is no match for Cao Cao and Yuan Shu. If

If the war continues to be delayed, I'm afraid something unexpected will happen to Yuzhou! It's better to retreat for now, there will be many opportunities to compete with Cao Yuan in the future." Liu Bei was quick-thinking and could see Liu Ye's thoughts at a glance, so he comforted him with a smile.

"What my lord is saying is that Ye is anxious." Liu Ye's face turned red and he bowed.

Liu Bei nodded slightly and was about to say something else when suddenly a messenger broke in.

"Report! Cao Jun is asking for an audience because of his ambition!"

Liu Bei frowned: "Why is he here? Could it be that he wants a certain person to hand over hundreds of officials?"

"Probably not. Cao Cao should know that we will not let go easily. If he really wants to seize Baiguan, the best way is to attack Chang'an first and force General Guan to surrender." Liu Ye said.

"Xuan!" Although his heart was full of speculation and suspicion, Liu Bei still said calmly.

After saying this, Liu Bei straightened his sleeves and sat back down. Liu Ye also knelt down and sat beside him.

"Yingchuan Xi Zhicai pays homage to the general!" Xi Zhicai Shi Shiran walked in, stood in the tent with a smile and bowed.

Liu Bei quickly stepped down from his seat, enthusiastically held up Xi Zhicai's hand, and said eagerly: "Zhicai, please get up quickly!"

The kindness of his words and the sincerity of his attitude are simply outrageous. Those who didn't know it thought Xi Zhi was his counselor!

Xi Zhicai was stunned. He was caught off guard by Liu Bei's enthusiasm. After reacting, he was a little bit dumbfounded. This Liu Xuande was really hungry for talent. No wonder he could easily get the support of the Yuzhou aristocratic families.

"Thank you Mr. Xuande!" Liu Bei was so eager that Xi Zhicai simply changed his name to a friendly one. Yuan Shao might have been suspicious of him because of this, but his lord was a talented and strategic Cao Cao, so Cao Cao would not suspect that he was the most powerful person.

He relied on a counselor, so Xi Zhi had no intention of avoiding suspicion.

Seeing that Xi Zhicai looked normal, Liu Bei's heart sank, but he still said enthusiastically: "I wonder why Zhicai came here this time?"

Xi Zhicai smiled slightly, took out a piece of yellow silk from his sleeve, and took a closer look, but it was an imperial edict: "By the order of the emperor, I came here to announce the edict."

Liu Bei secretly resented that Cao Mengde issued an edict just after he became emperor. I want to see what your plans are.

Although he kept cursing Cao Cao in his heart, Liu Bei still knelt down respectfully to receive the order.

Xi Zhicai calmly read out the imperial edict that Cao Cao "suggested" to Liu Cheng. The general idea was to reward Liu Bei first, praise him for coming to the rescue and being loyal to his duties, and made him the real emperor according to his genealogy.

Uncle, he was granted the title of General of the Conquest of the South. He then said that Chang'an was in turmoil, and the two thieves Li and Guo had to be eliminated. Yuan Shu was ambitious, and the situation in Xiliang was uncertain. He, the great uncle of the Han Dynasty, was in urgent need of his services.

Liu Bei was quite happy at first, but after hearing what happened, he immediately became unhappy. However, his identity as a descendant of the Han Dynasty had just been corrected, and Liu Bei was reluctant to disobey the edict just like that.

Although he was extremely angry in his heart, Liu Bei easily suppressed his inner anger with his extraordinary Qi-nurturing skills and acting skills. He still received the imperial edict with a respectful face and said calmly: "Promise!" (To be continued)
Chapter completed!