There are not many things that can make Cao Cao hesitate. If Cai Mao really saw the moment when Huang Gai was tortured, then this letter...
Cao Cao picked up the letter on the ground again and read the contents of the letter carefully.
The content is really tempting.
It is true that Cao Cao has an army of 500,000, but the consumption of maintaining this army of 500,000 is also a heavy burden on food and grass.
Before Cao Cao came, Xun Yu repeatedly told Cao Cao that the battle must be fought quickly, but Cao Cao may not know that in the brocade bag that had been stolen by Xu Shu, Yi Xiaotian also told Cao Cao unabashedly that he must win the battle quickly.
The winner will be decided in the first few days.
It's impossible for Cao Cao not to understand.
It's just that... after experiencing repeated defeats, Cao Cao couldn't help but become cautious.
The consequence of this is that he has more concerns about how to reduce the current losses.
If it really goes according to what Huang Gai said in his letter——
"Kan Ze, I want to ask you, how many soldiers and horses can Huang Gai bring? How many ships can he bring?"
Kan Ze knew that Cao Cao had taken the bait, so he became more confident:
"There are nearly a hundred large and small ships, all of which are part of Zhou Yu's main fleet. The elite navy of more than 5,000 people is already nearly 30% of Zhou Yu's trump cards."
Xun You, Cheng Yu and others swallowed their saliva.
They all saw the surprise and excitement in each other's eyes. As the saying goes, don't use people who are suspicious, and don't use people who are suspicious...
Jia Xu whispered a few words in Cao Cao's ear:
"Prime Minister, you must be careful..."
"I know...so I plan to put the entire army on alert and wait for the opponent to surrender in person...If we can really get a strong general like Huang Gai, Chibi...can be broken in one day!"
When Jia Xu heard Cao Cao's decisive words, he knew that he could not persuade him anymore.
Instead of arguing with Cao Cao again, it is better to prepare quickly to accept Huang Gai's surrender...
then--
Kan Ze returned in a small boat, and Cao Cao announced a three-day period... Three days later, Huang Gai came to surrender. As long as Huang Gai did not lie, they could annihilate the Soochow army in Chibi in one fell swoop...
And on the other side at this moment——
In Xiangyang City, under the Prefecture Mufu.
Because of the death of Ma Su, the young father-in-law of the Ma family, unimaginable turmoil occurred in Xiangyang.
At first, people decorated the house with lanterns and colorful decorations, just like the Chinese New Year, to celebrate Ma Di's death. The people who were happiest after Ma Di's death were the merchants who had been exploited by him.
Unfortunately, the good times did not last long.
An organization called the Family Alliance suddenly swept the entire Xiangyang City overnight.
Kuai, Xi, Xi, Zhang, Wang, Huang, Cai, Luo, Du... With Ma Liang as their leader, the nine aristocratic families share the same hatred and want to "bring Yi Xiaotian to justice".
Bring to justice?
It was just a nicer way of saying it, but in the final analysis, Yi Xiaotian violated their common interests.
Ma Liang won't talk about it anymore. His biological brother was beheaded. No matter how dandy his brother was during his lifetime, he was still his blood relative. The Ma family relies on Ma Su internally and Ma Liang externally. Their fathers died young, and the Ma family is
It was only through the concerted efforts of these brothers that we were able to develop into what it is today.
Now that Ma Di is dead, Ma Liang can only think of seeking revenge.
And what about other aristocratic families...
Ma Liang just told them some very simple facts, which forced these aristocratic families to unite together.
"The business of Youjian Villa is spread all over the north, and now it is marching into the south of the Yangtze River with a sweeping trend. If we don't react now and don't protect our foundation, when Yi Xiaotian and Cao Cao join forces, we will only be squeezed out."
"Not to mention that the business of Yi Xiaotian's Villa is spread across all walks of life... just his iron and iron business has led to Cao Cao's not less than a million dollars... If he is not willing to just earn this iron and iron
Where’s the money?”
"What do we have?"
Ma Liang asked the question, and the patriarchs of many aristocratic families trembled.
Salt and iron, salt and iron, have been a family since ancient times. The government has always taken back the private rights of salt and iron. This is because if it is not controlled and the gentry's pursuit of capital and profit is enough, the market for salt and iron will soon be destroyed.
Gradually become disordered.
Therefore, since the Eastern Han Dynasty, the imperial court not only failed to delegate the private rights of salt and iron to the private sector, but instead strengthened the control of private salt and iron again and again.
Xiangyang is different...
The cooperation with Liu Biao has benefited many aristocratic families, especially the four families of Xi, Zhang, Wang and Luo.
The Cai and Ma families were involved in both salt and iron.
Six out of the nine families cannot coexist with Yi Xiaotian, so naturally the remaining three families cannot take refuge with Yi Xiaotian.
This is how the alliance was established.
However, on the second day after the establishment of the Family Alliance, which was also the first day of their formal representative meeting, they received even more exciting news.
"Four...Fourth Master! No...it's not good!"
The venue for the meeting was chosen to be Ma's Mansion. Although Ma Di's death had just happened a few days ago, it was already at this point and there was no time to show mourning. Ma's Mansion was the first to cheer up.
It was Ma Liang’s push.
Ma Liang's raised hand was hanging in the air. Before he could speak, he heard a call from outside the door and frowned:
"What's the matter?"
I saw a middle-aged man dressed simply, who seemed to be a long-term worker, running from the door with an extremely panic expression.
As soon as he arrived in the courtyard and saw a bunch of family heads sitting in the main hall, he was frightened to death.
The meeting was interrupted, and everyone was very unhappy. Moreover, the person who interrupted the meeting was still sitting there like a piece of wood, wasting everyone's time——
As the manager, Li Yue naturally stood up and kicked the humble worker directly.
"I'm asking you to speak! Is it possible to make the heads of the family wait for you as a servant?"
Li Yue's current appearance is quite funny. His nose was broken that day and was not treated in time. Now his whole head is wrapped with half of cotton gauze, looking like a big-headed doll.
But no one laughed at him, especially the servants, who were afraid it was too late.
After being kicked, the long-term worker seemed to have come to his senses, and hurriedly kowtowed and apologized to everyone. The news coming from his mouth, as expected, made Ma Liang's hand hanging in the air fall heavily.
on the table…
boom--
Half of the tea on the table was spilled, but few people dared to touch Ma Liang's troubles because they all heard the news:
"Fourth Master... you... please go to the Zhou Mu Mansion to meet the Zhou Mu... We... our hilltop is going to be taken over by people!"
"Who...who did it!"
Ma Liang was really angry. No one knew what the mountains mentioned here meant. Everyone knew the value of the mountains around Xiangyang City...
Not to mention the many medicinal materials and specialties, the key point is... salt wells of various families are scattered near the top of this mountain!
"Listen...I heard Mr. Zhou Mu say...it was a man named Yi Xiaotian who did it..."
"That man has the seal and ribbon of the Prime Minister's Palace in his hand... Mr. Zhou Mu can't stop him..."