Sima Lang took the secret letter and came to see Wang Ding.
During this period, Wang Ding attached great importance to the situation in Xuzhou and Yanzhou. As soon as Sima Lang received important news, he would report to Wang Ding.
Wang Ding may not care about other things, but if it concerns Cao Cao and Liu Bei, even if it is just a small piece of news, Wang Ding will personally read it.
"What's the current situation between the two sides?" Wang Ding said.
The spies sent out before have already achieved two results. They have no way of finding out about Cao Cao and Liu Bei's plans, but at least they can report back the situation on the bright side as soon as possible.
Sima Lang said: "Liu Bei is on the defensive. Cao Cao has an absolute advantage in terms of military strength. In my opinion, it will be difficult to defend Xuzhou this time."
Last year, Cao Cao launched an attack on Xuzhou. It was only because the soldiers and civilians of Xuzhou were united in resisting to the death that it took so long that Cao Cao was short of food and grass, so he withdrew his troops and returned.
This year, Cao Cao is more fully prepared and is bound to win Xuzhou.
Wang Dingdao: "Go and invite Military Advisor Jia to come."
After a pause, Wang Ding said: "Let Zhongda come too."
Even though he was wary of Sima Yi, Wang Ding would not ignore Sima Yi's talents.
Sima Lang said: "Here."
Sima Lang was naturally quite happy that Wang Ding asked his younger brother to participate.
I feel that over the past few days, Wang Ding has also recognized Sima Yi’s talent.
Sima Lang decided that after a while, he would share some of the things at hand with Sima Yi.
Those who are capable should work harder.
Sima Lang resigned. He first went to find his younger brother, and then took Sima Yi to invite Jia Xu. The three of them came to the commander's tent in the army together.
Sima Lang also respected Jia Xu.
The three of them are all smart people, with an age difference of thirty, and they had a great time chatting with each other on the way here.
Jia Xu was very polite to everyone. Even if it was Sima Yi, who was only sixteen years old, Jia Xu would not speak in an official tone.
As long as you are in contact with Jia Xu, it is easy for people to ignore him. He is now also one of the Nine Qings of the Han Dynasty, with a high and powerful position.
However, Sima Yi didn't need to remind Sima Lang that Jia Xu was definitely not what he appeared to be.
Sima Yi could feel that this peaceful side was just a disguise of Jia Xu.
Just like him.
Everyone said that he was steady, but Sima Yi knew that since he was a child, he just didn't want others to see what he was thinking.
His calm and steady expression is his best disguise.
Seeing Jia Xu, Sima Yi, who was only sixteen years old, finally realized why Wang Ding was wary of him.
Being young and mature is not liked by all monarchs.
Like Jia Xu, it is the most brilliant disguise to make people feel like they are enjoying the spring equinox.
Let me ask, who would be wary of such an old man?
Open-minded, calm, noble, and indifferent to the world.
Sima Yi: No wonder Wang Ding has such an achievement.
After meeting Jia Xu, he immediately believed that it was Jia Xu who advised Wang Ding that made Wang Ding achieve what he has achieved today.
After all, in his daily contact with Wang Ding, Sima Yi really didn't see where Wang Ding was smart.
"Everyone sit down." Wang Ding stretched out his hand and asked the three of them to sit down.
He knew the general direction of the battlefield in Xuzhou, but now that Lu Bu had occupied Bingzhou, Wang Ding was not sure whether Lu Bu would attack Cao Cao's Yanzhou this time.
And whether Chen Gong, Zhang Miao and others will betray Cao Cao.
He asked Jia Xu and Sima Yi to hear their opinions.
On the way here, Sima Lie had already shared the information he had obtained with Jia Xu and Sima Yi.
"Zhongda, do you think I should send troops to conquer Cao Cao at this moment?"
After the three of them sat down, Wang Ding asked Sima Yi first.
If he wants to send troops now, he can do so justifiably.
Xuzhou Mu is Huang Wan appointed by the imperial court. Cao Cao is attacking Xuzhou now, ignoring the imperial court and rebelling.
Sima Yi said: "I think it is the right time for the general to send troops now. Cao Cao would never have expected it, and he should be able to defeat him with one blow."
Sima Yi didn't say anything of value.
I don’t think Wang Ding will accept his opinion, he said it very casually.
What Wang Ding has to consider is by no means simple, whether to attack Cao Cao.
He called Jia Xu and others and wanted to hear their analysis on the pros and cons of attacking Cao Cao now.
He can attack Cao Cao, or he can attack Liangzhou, or Yizhou, or even Bingzhou occupied by Lu Bu at this time.
Wang Ding wanted to know whether it was more beneficial to attack other people than to attack Cao Cao.
Sima Lang said: "My lord, this is indeed the best time to deal with Cao Cao, but if we send a large number of troops to Yanzhou, I am afraid that Ma Teng from Liangzhou will attack again."
Last year, Wang decided to conquer Zhang Lu, but Ma Teng sent his son Ma Chao to attack.
Wang Ding's base camp is in Chang'an, and Ma Teng in Liangzhou is definitely a serious concern.
Last year, he deliberately let Ma Chao go because he also wanted to show his favor to Ma Teng.
But it does not mean that Ma Teng will not attack Chang'an again.
Liangzhou is too big. If Wang Ding wanted to conquer Liangzhou, even if Ma Teng couldn't defeat him, he could still take his men and run away to Jiuquan or Dunhuang. Wang Ding would not be able to pursue him.
It is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and may not necessarily lead to success. Moreover, the journey is long, the food and grass consumption is very large, and accidents are easy to happen.
With such a long front, Wang Ding needs to invest too many troops if he wants to ensure the safety of the food route.
When he first conquered Hanzhong, he only needed to recruit tens of thousands of civilians, and there was almost no need to worry about the safety of food routes.
Wang Dingdao: "Can we recruit Ma Teng to surrender?"
He remembered that Cao Cao originally surrendered Ma Teng and asked Ma Teng and his family to come to Xudu, but left Ma Chao in Liangzhou.
But Wang Ding didn't remember how Cao Cao recruited Ma Teng.
He also surrendered Ma Teng last year, and Han Sui sent a personal letter to Ma Teng, but Ma Teng did not surrender, but instead sent Ma Chao to attack Chencang later.
No one present knew Ma Teng.
Sima Lang said: "How about letting General Han Sui recruit Ma Teng to surrender again?"
Wang Ding nodded. Since the original Ma Teng could surrender to Cao Cao and was willing to personally go to Xudu as a hostage, Ma Teng's ambitions should not be big.
Wang Ding still holds great hope for recruiting Ma Teng.
He really didn't want to, so he sent a large army to conquer Liangzhou.
Wang Dingdao: "Liangzhou mainly recruits surrender. If Ma Teng is still unwilling to surrender, we will finally conquer him."
If his base camp was in Luoyang, there would be no need to be so guarded against Liangzhou.
Zhang Ji is now in Luoyang, but the population loss in Luoyang is so serious that even after two years, it has not recovered much and is still very dilapidated.
We have to rely on Hongnong County to support the 20,000 soldiers in Zhang Ji's hands.
Wang Ding has no intention of moving the capital back to Luoyang for the time being.
Wang Ding put aside the matter in Liangzhou for the time being. He asked Jia Xu, "Now that Cao Cao is conquering Xuzhou, do we have a chance?"
Even if he couldn't send troops to Yanzhou, Wang Ding didn't want Cao Cao to take Xuzhou easily. He had to make it more difficult for Cao Cao.