"My lord, this is what happened. Lu Bu was rescued by Yuan Shu's subordinate Zhao Yun. The general is incompetent, so please punish me, my lord."

Cao Zhen, who was forced to retreat by Zhao Yun's shot, led his army back in disgrace. After reporting the entire battle to Cao Cao, he said with shame.

After hearing this, Cao Cao looked expressionlessly into the distance without saying a word, but his overwhelming power and soaring anger were as terrifying as a volcano about to erupt, making the surrounding soldiers look horrified and timid.

He almost fell off his horse.

"My lord, this is not the fault of Zihe and Zidan, please calm down!" Seeing that Cao Cao was really angry, Cao Xiu, who was beside him, quickly interceded for Cao Chun and Cao Zhen.

Taking a deep breath and suppressing the anger in his heart, Cao Cao said in a deep voice: "What are the casualties?"

"More than two hundred tiger cavalry were lost, and more than one thousand two hundred were lost on leopard cavalry. General Cao Chun was seriously injured and fell into coma." Cao Zhen gritted his teeth and whispered,

Hearing the casualties, which were similar to those of Xia Houyuan's army, Cao Cao felt a splitting headache. He almost fell off his horse and cried out in pain: "It hurts me too!"

Cao Hong, with his sharp hands and quick eyes, quickly held him up and shouted softly: "My lord, don't be angry! Call the doctor quickly!"

"Ah!" Cao Cao held his forehead with a painful expression and said in a low voice: "Forget it, the old headache has returned, and those quack doctors can't cure it."

Then he looked at Cao Zhen who was kneeling in front of him and said softly: "Get up! You performed very well this time. It is not you who is responsible for Lu Bu's escape."

"Thank you, Lord!"

"After all, we let Lu Bu escape!" Cao Cao said unwillingly: "Withdraw!"

Then the army slowly withdrew towards Huang County.

...

"Zhicai, Wenruo, how should I deal with the current situation?"

After returning to Huang County to rest for a while, Cao Cao quickly summoned two think-tanks, Xi Zhicai and Xun Yu, and frowned.

After capturing Huang County, Qingzhou was completely captured, but Lu Bu was rescued by Yuan Shu. Regardless of whether Cao Cao accepted it or not, this was the end. Cao Cao, who captured Qingzhou, should think about what happened next.

"My lord, now Gongsun Zan and the two Yuans are preparing to proclaim themselves emperor. Liu Bei has captured our army's Yanzhou. Now Yuan Shu has sent troops to Yuzhou. Liu Bei is unable to return reinforcements and hold on and has given up. Now our army still occupies two of the four states in the Central Plains. Liu Bei

After occupying one state, the remaining one will be obtained by Yuan Shu. We worked hard, but in the end we made Yuan Shu's wedding dress!" Xi Zhicai sighed softly.

Fortunately, Cao Cao looked full of hatred when he mentioned this matter. Unfortunately, he made all kinds of calculations and finally let Yuan Shu pick the peaches, and now he has to watch the other party pick the peaches. The resentment and sorrow in his heart are directed toward Yuan Shu.

Who said?

"Now my lord has three things to consider. First, both Yuan and Gongsun Zan want to proclaim themselves emperors, and Liu Bei is probably also eager to do so. My lord should decide as soon as possible whether to follow suit and proclaim himself emperor or king, or to attack and condemn him in the name of the Emperor of the Han Dynasty?" Xun

Yu said very calmly.

After hearing this, Cao Cao said without hesitation: "Of course I am attacking him in the name of the Emperor. I have the orthodoxy of the Han Dynasty in my hand, and I am serving the Emperor to fight against his enemies and gain a political advantage. If I abandon the near and seek the distant and follow the emperor, wouldn't I lose my advantage?"

live?"

"Lord, Han and traitors cannot stand together. If we choose this way, we will not be able to ally with the princes who claim to be emperor, and the two sides will fight to the death." Xi Zhicai reminded.

If he insists on his orthodox position, Cao Cao will inevitably become a thorn in the side of the world's princes, and he will almost have to fight alone. If he proclaims himself emperor, Cao Cao will lose his political righteousness. It is no joke that the Han Dynasty has been established for four hundred years. Although the Han Dynasty is now in decline,

However, the power of people loyal to the Han family and the influence of the Han Dynasty on the people are still considerable. This is a dilemma choice, and you cannot have your cake and eat it too.

After hearing what Xi Zhicai said, Cao Cao hesitated again. If there was no variable like Yuan Shu, Cao Cao would never have hesitated to stick to his choice. But now Yuan Shu is so powerful that Liu Bei would not be able to do it without an alliance with Yuan Shao.

Checks and balances gave Cao Cao a deep headache.

Xi Zhicai and Xun Yu did not rush, they just closed their eyes and meditated quietly, waiting for Cao Cao to make a decision. For these two options, it is difficult to say which is better and which is worse. Neither is a good choice. Who let them be

What about the weak side? It would be nice to have a choice.

After thinking for a long time, Cao Cao finally said resolutely with a look of determination on his face: "I, the Cao family, are the loyal descendants of the Han Dynasty. How could we not try our best to help the Han Dynasty when it was in decline, but usurp the Han Dynasty to become independent? I am willing to be a loyal minister of the Han Dynasty and help the great Han Dynasty.

, I will have no regrets even if I die!”

These words were spoken with great righteousness, as if they came from the heart, but only Cao Cao knew how much of them were sincere and how much of them were absurd.

"My lord is wise!" Xi Zhicai and Xun Yu said in unison.

Xun Yu, who still loved the Han Dynasty, was deeply pleased with Cao Cao's choice. He gave a rare explanation: "My lord, respecting the emperor will not only win the hearts of the people in the world who are loyal to the Han Dynasty, but it will also not have much influence on uniting Yuan Shao and Liu Bei against Yuan Shu."

.”

"Oh? Why?" Cao Cao's eyes lit up and he asked.

"First of all, for Liu Bei, whether he is proclaimed emperor or king, as a descendant of the Han Dynasty, he has this qualification. Although he may not recognize the orthodoxy of his lord as emperor, due to the advantages of Liu's identity, he must

I will work with my lord to suppress those who are not named Liu, such as Er Yuan and Gongsun Zan. It is justifiable for my lord to join forces with him. He is aware of the rebellion and will fight internally for the position of unification."

"Secondly, for Yuan Shao. Although there will be a gap between the lord and the lord after he becomes the emperor, we are now bordering each other, and the lord has captured his sweet spot, Qingzhou, under his nose. Yuan Shao must be very fond of the lord in his heart.

Moreover, Yuan Shao was very jealous of his lord before, but he only regarded his lord as a pawn. With his arrogance, how could he be willing to openly form an alliance with you, my lord? It is an alliance, and Yuan Shao can understand his lord.

Mutual assistance in offense and defense?" Xun Yu said sharply. Regarding Yuan Shao's character, Xun Yu, who had gone to seek refuge with him before, could be said to have a very thorough understanding of Yuan Shao's character.

"With the alliance between the two sides, all Yuan Shao can do is to hold back Yuan Shu's cavalry in Youzhou, and then send troops from Bingzhou to threaten Sili and Xiliang. But even if we don't make an alliance with them, Yuan Shao, who hates Yuan Shu extremely much, will probably do the same.

.Compared to Yuan Shu, our threat to him is too small, and it is impossible for Yuan Shao to not see this clearly."

"Therefore, it can be said that there are advantages and disadvantages for the lord to serve the emperor and not to obey the ministers." Xun Yu concluded. Xi Zhi looked at Xun Yu and frowned slightly. These words seemed to make sense, but in fact they were not.

There are many loopholes, but now that Cao Cao has made a choice, Xi Zhicai doesn't want to be this evil person, so he should appease Cao Cao.

When Cao Cao heard this, he seemed to have really believed what Xun Yu said, and smiled slightly: "What Wen Ruo said is great."

"Secondly, Yanzhou has been captured by Liu Bei. Although it is now empty internally, Yuan Shu is around, so the lord should not take advantage of it. As for Liu Bei, does the lord want to unite with Liu Bei regardless of the past grudges, or fight separately and choose the opportunity to annex it?

?”

Hearing this, Cao Cao hesitated again. This question seemed to be a good choice. Anyone with a discerning eye would choose to ally with Liu Bei. After all, it is difficult to defeat Yuan Shu alone. It is too difficult to compete with Yuan Shu on his own. But in fact, there are many ways to ally with Liu Bei.

Many difficulties.

Just like in the Three Kingdoms period in history, Zhuge Liang and Lu Su both had a strong view of the overall situation and saw that Wu and Shu must unite with each other to compete with the powerful Wei State. Liu Bei and Sun Quan also knew this, but in reality? The pressure on the Wei State was huge

Song, Soochow began to attack the Shu Kingdom. The most typical one is Lu Meng's crossing the river in white, which directly killed the prosperous Shu Kingdom. Not to mention Jingzhou was lost, Guan Yu died in the battle, Zhang Fei and Liu Bei can both say

He died for this. Afterwards, Liu Bei ignored the overall situation and attacked Soochow under the banner of revenge for Guan Zhang. As a result, Lu Xun burned most of the Shu kingdom's combat power.

Qin destroyed the six kingdoms, wiping them out one by one. However, the six kingdoms seemed to be unable to see the crisis. They were completely scattered and did not unite with each other. As a result, they were wiped out one by one. Can this be said that the six kingdoms are too stupid? There are so many talents in the six kingdoms.

, can’t even see such a simple truth?

The same principle applies to Shu and Wu. Many weak countries are already hostile to each other. Only with strong external forces can they unite. Otherwise, they will inevitably fight among themselves over time. Why are Cao Cao and Liu Bei falling into internal fights now? It’s because Yuan Shu is too powerful.

Be patient. If Yuan Shu blindly attacks, the two of them will naturally resist desperately. But there has been no movement from Yuan Shu's side for a year and a half, and problems will naturally arise in the alliance between Cao and Liu.

The choice Cao Cao faces now is, if Yuan Shu comes and doesn't move troops for another year and a half, can he hold back and not annihilate Liu Bei during this period?

Yuan Shu mobilized troops continuously in the past six months and occupied Liangzhou, Sili and Yuzhou successively. With so much territory suddenly gained, he must have needed a long period of rest. And during such a long time, Cao Cao had countless opportunities to take action. Because

He is far more powerful than Liu Bei. He still has more than 100,000 troops in his hands, while Liu Bei only has more than 40,000. He has two states, especially Xuzhou, which is extremely rich, while Liu Bei only has Yanzhou, which is barren and has been fighting for years.

.
Chapter completed!