In the twelfth lunar month of winter, although there was no heavy snowfall in Hebei, it was still windy and bleak, with moderate rain mixed with light snow.
Guo Jiali walked out of his house three floors up, wearing a wide crane cloak. The oncoming wind and rain still made him sneeze.
At this time in history, he had died of illness in Liaodong, and the grass on his grave should have been three feet high.
But now he is still alive.
It wasn't that he was in good health, but that he didn't go to a bitter and cold place like Liaodong like in history, and the long march made him sick.
In fact, his health has never been very good, and his skin is extremely pale.
In addition to the fact that it was winter and the north wind was strong, what was more important was that Guo Jia had always been uninhibited and indulged in drinking and sex without any restraint.
This seems to be a common problem among scholar-bureaucrats in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. In addition to drinking and sex, they will also have to take Wushisan in the future.
At this moment, Guo Jia was surrounded by several women, chattering and cuddling up to his left and right, cuddling and reluctantly saying goodbye.
The person who came to meet him outside the door was Xu Ding, the commander of Cao Cao's Huben Army, who was Xu Chu's brother.
Compared to his younger brother Xu Chu, who was reserved and taciturn, Xu Ding could speak a few words. When he saw Guo Jia's body smelling of rouge, spices and alcohol, he smiled and said: "The military advisor drinks and indulges in lust every day. If Chen Changshi
When I see it, I'm afraid I'll have to join the military division again."
"Chen Qun is a pedantic child, but he is not as good as the Analects of Confucius."
Guo Jia's face was flushed with alcohol, and he responded with a smile. With Xu Ding's help, he got into the carriage, and then asked: "Sikong summoned me at night, what is the important matter?"
"Sun Quan sent someone to deliver a letter."
"Oh? Is it an envoy sent here, or was it sent urgently by Wen Hui, the governor of Yangzhou?"
"I asked Governor Wen to send it urgently. It just arrived at Sikong Mansion."
Xu Ding was guarding him on horseback. It was still raining lightly in the sky, pattering on Xu Ding's raincoat. He licked his lips and said: "It is said that Sikong's face changed drastically after reading the letter, so he called for wine at starry night, and the military advisor of the Central Military Commission,
General Fenwu discusses matters."
"Well, I know what Sikong summoned me for."
Guo Jia leaned his head on the back of the carriage chair, supported his forehead with one hand, and leaned on the carriage with the other hand, lying half in the carriage.
Xu Ding said in surprise: "Does the military advisor know?"
"nature."
Guo Jia yawned and stretched: "Sun Quan used to be solemn when he went on missions to form alliances. This time, he suddenly asked Wen Hui to send it urgently. This can only mean one thing - there has been a big change in Jingzhou.
!”
The carriage spun slowly and slowly stopped at the Sikong Mansion along the bluestone. The umbrella cover on the carriage was ticking and raindrops were falling. There were people waiting beside it.
When the servants of Sikong Mansion saw Guo Jia's carriage approaching, they hurriedly walked to the carriage with their bamboo hats in hand to greet them.
Chen Qun, wearing a black robe and an ordinary alpine crown on his head, stood on a high platform under the eaves of the gate of Sikong's mansion, looking down from a high position and looking at Guo Jia lazily getting off the carriage with very indifferent eyes.
When the slave brought Guo Jia to him, the oncoming smell of wine and rouge made people frown.
"The military advisor offers wine."
Chen Qun couldn't help but said: "Since I met Sikong, why do I feel so drunk and lustful?"
Guo Jia said with a smile: "The weather was cold and gloomy. I drank some wine to warm myself up and slept at home with my wife and concubines in my arms. Sikong summoned me at short notice and there was no way to take a bath. Is this also wrong?"
"you."
Chen Qun was very unhappy.
Guo Jia smiled and said: "Besides, Chang Shi is no longer in charge of writing books and serving as censor, so he should do his duty first."
Chen Qun was stunned into silence, then he turned around and walked into the mansion to lead the way.
Although the Chen family and the Guo family are both top aristocratic families in Yingchuan, Chen Qun is from the main line of the Chen family and Guo Jia is just a side branch, so the two naturally have no friendship.
After Cao Cao recruited Chen Qun, Chen Qun first served as Sikong Cao Tuo, then moved to the post of Chief Secretary and Censor, and was promoted to Sikong Chief Shi last year.
Because he couldn't stand Guo Jia's misbehavior, he would go to the streets to molest good women, and often take off his clothes in public. Therefore, when he was serving as the censor, Chen Qun went to Cao Cao every day to impeach Guo Jia, and let the two of them
The relationship is very bad.
However, Cao Cao is not a good person. Both of them like beautiful women, so Guo Jia's little hobby is very similar to Cao Cao's. Naturally, Cao Cao will not blame Guo Jia for this little thing.
This resulted in Guo Jia still going his own way and practicing his so-called celebrity demeanor. Chen Qun was unable to do anything about him, which made him very angry.
The group of people soon arrived at the central hall.
At this time, Cheng Yu and Xun You had just arrived in the hall, and the three of them were almost in front and behind.
"Sikong."
Guo Jia bowed as he entered the door.
Cao Cao nodded slightly and said, "Sit down."
Everyone sat down.
Cao Pi, who had been in the hall, looked around, then cupped his hands and said: "Father, the child has retreated."
"Wait a minute."
Cao Cao glanced at Cao Pi and said thoughtfully: "You stay here and make notes with Chen Qun."
Cao Pi was stunned for a moment, then said happily: "Thank you very much, father."
Cheng Yu, Xun You, and Guo Jia were Cao Cao's three most trusted military advisers. Regardless of their close relationship, they were all senior officials with two thousand stones. In the past, Cao Pi was not qualified to sit in on the meetings.
Now, he was suddenly asked to stay. Although he was just kneeling aside as the record-keeper of the meeting minutes like Chen Qun, this was already a great improvement.
Cheng Yu, Xun You and Guo Jia also looked at Cao Pi in surprise. For them, they also understood the signal released by Cao Cao.
It seems that after Cao Chong's death, Sikong has begun to train other successors.
Soon the hall door closed.
Outside the door, brothers Xu Chu and Xu Ding stood like two iron towers.
Cao Cao listened to the sound of rain, snow, wind and frost knocking on the wooden window outside, looked around at everyone and said: "Sun Quan sent a letter, inviting me to attack Liu Bei together, and also said that he is willing to share Nanzhou with me."
Few people spoke.
Because they all knew that since Sun Quan would act like this, it must mean that something must have happened in Jingzhou.
As expected.
Cao Cao pondered for a moment and continued: "He said in the letter that the alliance between Liu Bei and Liu Qi has annihilated Cai Mao. Now only Zhang Yun is left in Jingzhou with tens of thousands of troops. This is a good time to send troops south.
, what do you think?"
All three people knew that Cao Cao was asking them whether they should send troops.
Cheng Yu thought for a moment and said, "Let's go."
"Um."
Xun You nodded.
Guo Jia said: "If we don't send troops, Zhang Yun, Sun Quan and others may not be Liu Bei's rivals. If Liu Bei is allowed to capture Jingzhou, the south will definitely gain it. Therefore, even if we want to prevent Liu Bei from succeeding, we must send troops."
This is just like forcibly attacking Hanzhong. It is much easier for Liu Bei to attack Hanzhong from Yizhou than from Guanzhong. Therefore, even to prevent Liu Bei from getting Hanzhong or gaining Hanzhong's population, Cao Cao must forcefully attack Zhang Lu.
.
"If I can take Nanyang alone, what if I give up Jingzhou to Liu Bei?"
Cao Cao narrowed his eyes.
Guo Jia said: "Sikong is right, Nanyang is the foundation of Jingzhou. If Jingzhou goes to Nanyang, almost half of Jingzhou will be cut off."
"What a pity."
Cao Cao sighed, his eyes full of regret.
The three of them actually knew what he was regretting.
He regretted that he could not use his full strength.
Although Yuan Tan had just been eliminated, Cao's army had not yet completely occupied Jizhou.
In the northern areas of Jizhou, such as Hejian Kingdom, Zhongshan Kingdom, and Changshan Kingdom, there are still a large number of Yuan clan's old tribes remaining.
Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi even established themselves in the Zhuojun area of Youzhou.
In addition, the high officials in Bingzhou also have a good relationship with the Xiongnu forces in the south and the Xianbei forces in the central part, and they are also threatening the north.
More importantly, the Yuan family has always been on good terms with the Karasuma forces in Youzhou. It is said that this time Yuan Shang and Yuan Xi contacted Tadun, the leader of Karasuma in Liaodong, and invited him to come to Youzhou to help.
Therefore, once Cao Cao takes the main force south to conquer Jingzhou personally, there will be a fire in the backyard immediately, and the Jizhou that he just won will probably have to be taken back by the Yuan family.
Therefore, it was impossible for Cao Cao to send a large force southward, and he could not even send many troops. He could only send a small group of troops southward to harass Nanyang.
"In recent years, we have been sending people to the south to find out the news."
Guo Jia said: "Reporting from Jingzhou's details, Liu Bei only has 40,000 to 50,000 troops, and Liu Qi has even fewer troops. In other words, the total number of Liu Bei and Liu Qi's troops is less than 100,000, and most of them are rabble. Zhang Yun and Sun Quan's troops
The total number of horses is about 100,000. We only need to send 20,000 to 30,000 people, and maybe it will be miraculous."
"Twenty or thirty thousand people?"
Cao Cao stroked his chin beard, narrowed his eyes and thought.
After the Battle of Kuangcheng, he was severely defeated and lost many men.
However, after Yuan Shao died of illness, he gradually recovered his strength and the number of soldiers and horses also increased day by day.
Especially after the capture of Yecheng last year, because Zhang Yan was an old enemy of the Yuan family, he specially brought hundreds of thousands of Montenegrin troops to join him, adding a large number of people and soldiers to him.
After eliminating the old and weak and selecting elite soldiers, Cao Cao now has a large number of soldiers and horses, with a total of 150,000 or 60,000.
It's definitely worse than at this time in history.
Historically, he went south with an army of 200,000, which itself shows that his total military strength was more than 300,000.
But the current strength may be less than half of what it was in history.
But even so, after the collapse of Yuan Shao and Liu Biao's power, Cao Cao has become the number one prince in the world.
It's just that the north has not yet been determined, and the border between Jizhou and Youzhou still needs a large number of soldiers and horses to defend. If the main force goes south at this time, the rear will be extremely empty, so it cannot be used with all its strength.
But if you bite the bullet and squeeze in 40,000 to 50,000 troops, it should still be possible.
Thinking of this, Cao Cao shook his head and said: "Liu Bei, Shen Chen and his like have been operating in Nanyang for many years. How can twenty or thirty thousand men shake their foundation? Gu decided to personally lead 40,000 troops south to conquer Nanyang himself!"
"Sikong personally conquered?"
The three counselors looked at each other. They did not expect that Cao Cao would choose to conquer the situation in the south again.
Cao Cao said solemnly: "Yes, I will conquer Nanyang personally!"
Cheng Yu dissuaded: "I know that Sikong's intention is to control Liu Bei, but the most important thing for us now is to pacify the north first. Next year, we should eliminate the remnants of the Yuan family in Bingzhou and Youzhou to avoid future worries. If we go south now,
, dragging it into the southern war situation is not good for us."
"Yes, Sikong."
Xun You also said: "When the King of Qin unified the six countries, he adopted the strategy of establishing distant relations and attacking closely. He first destroyed Han, Zhao, and Wei who were closer to Guanzhong, and then defeated Chu, Yan, and Qi. This was a step-by-step encroachment and could not be achieved overnight."
"Spring and Autumn" also says, "Respect the king and repel the barbarians." Only then can one respect the king, and only by respecting the king can one repel the barbarians. How can we send troops out of the south when the north is not at peace?"
Both of them held the right opinions.
Guo Jia did not speak, he had been observing Cao Cao's face.
As a counselor who is best at controlling people's hearts, Guo Jia often does not consider immediate interests, but considers what those in power want.
After he thinks about this clearly, he can then work hard in the direction Cao Cao wants and find ways to help him achieve it.
certainly.
The premise of all this is that it is possible for Cao Cao's idea to be realized.
However, from the bottom of his heart, Guo Jia also understood that taking one-third of the army south to attack Nanyang at this time was not a good thing for Cao Cao's group, which had just captured most of Jizhou.
Because although the situation in the south is not good and Liu Bei has the possibility of becoming bigger, the north is obviously more important.
At present, Jizhou has not yet been completely captured. The remaining forces of the Yuan family have gathered together, and Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi, Gao Gan, Tadun and others are eyeing them. They may come back at any time and attack their rear.
From the perspective of real interests, Cao Cao should let Liu Bei, Sun Quan, Liu Cong, Liu Qi, Zhang Lu, Liu Zhang and others in the south continue to have internal conflicts, while he worked hard to pacify Bingzhou, Youzhou and the Liaodong rear before considering
The matter of sending troops to Jingzhou.
But since Cao Cao has such an idea, Guo Jia is naturally willing to listen to it. Unless there is no possibility of realizing it, and he tries to persuade Cao Cao to give up the idea, otherwise, he is still more willing to be consistent with Cao Cao's idea.
"Lonely knows your concerns."
Cao Cao waved his hand and said: "Compared to Liu Bei, the high-ranking officials Yuan Shang, Yuan Xi and his like are not enough to make me afraid. This generation is young, so I can defeat him in less than a year. But if Liu Bei gets Jingzhou, then I will be afraid of him."
I couldn’t sleep all night.”
"Jia thinks Sikong's words are reasonable."
Guo Jia said: "Zhongde Gong once said that Liu Bei had great talents and won the hearts of the people, but at that time Ming Gong wanted to recruit the heroes of the world and did not want to kill him and lose the hearts of the world. Although the north is important, if Liu Bei is allowed to go unchecked, he may suffer from trouble in the future.
Infinite. Sikong’s foresight and foresight are admirable.”
“It’s just that”
Xun You pondered for a moment, and finally said: "I still have to ask Sikong to think twice. If Liu Bei cannot be conquered in this battle, even if it is unsuccessful, it will delay the recovery of the entire north. It can be done next year.
After two or three more years of rest and recuperation, we will be able to gather millions of soldiers and dominate the world. Maybe we will have to wait a few more years."
Cao Cao said: "I have made up my mind. If I can defeat Liu Bei, even if I fail to get Nanyang, Liu Bei will not be able to get the entire Jingzhou. What if I wait a few more years? What's more, I know this battle well. If I can't win,
, just take charge and return to the court immediately."
"In that case, then obey Sikong's order."
Xun You and Cheng Yu no longer objected.
They knew that Cao Cao was a measured man.
If it really doesn't work, he will naturally make a choice.
At that moment, Cao Cao said: "The soldiers and horses in Jizhou will not be mobilized. I will order Zhang Liao and Cao Chun to come back. Gongda will follow me south in Fengxiao and let Xiahou Dun and Xunyu guard Yecheng. Zhongde, I will go to the Bohai Sea to meet Xiahou Yuan."
Together with Xu Huang, we will exterminate the remnants of the Yuan clan in Jizhou and threaten Youzhou."
"only!"
Three people took orders.
So in late November of the 13th year of Jian'an, Cao Cao, who was supposed to be in Chibi in history, officially sent troops south to kill Jingzhou and conquer Liu Bei personally.