Chang'an, Weiyang Palace, Qingliang Hall.

The emperor sat upright, with a solemn and solemn expression, but there was a hint of pride between his eyebrows and eyes.

Yang Xiu bowed and bowed again when facing the emperor, and spoke earnestly. "Your Majesty, the world is easy to move but hard to rest. Cao Cao was slandered and ridiculed, and did not think about self-reflection, but instead sent troops to conquer, and acted in a disarray and was ruthless. If you have to bear the heavy trust of Your Majesty, your Majesty should not tolerate it, and you should issue an edict to blame it with the heart of General."

The emperor coughed twice. "Yang Qing, in my opinion, the general's heart cannot be at ease because of this. He moved to Xiangyang and dispatched troops to attack Hanzhong. Could it be that the Three Gorges are difficult to advance, so he planned to go up the Mian River?"

Yang Xiu sighed. "Your Majesty, it is difficult to enter the Three Gorges, and it is not easy to get into the Mian River. Thousand miles of water, mountains and dense forests, it is difficult to walk alone, let alone carrying armored and armoured staff, leading horses and chariots? There are few soldiers and cannot defeat the enemy, and there are many soldiers and excessive consumption. It is by no means the best strategy. Wu Yi had a bad record of invading Xiangyang before. Now Cao Cao is down the river, how can he live and stay in peace? The general moved to Xiangyang and made great efforts. He knew that fighting was not easy and wanted to deter Wu Yi. Please be clear. Once the army is out, Jingzhou will be in chaos and the money and food will be exhausted, and the court's taxes will probably not be paid in time."

The emperor sighed softly. As for whether to agree with Yang Xiu or something, only he knew. "Yang Qing, the court is not willing to cause trouble. He has issued an edict to blame Cao Cao. It's just that the journey is long and I don't know if the edict has arrived. Besides, the general is young and energetic and looks at Hanzhong, which is easy to intensify conflicts and is not conducive to mediation. In this way, the court issues an edict again and try to persuade him as much as possible. You also send a letter to the general and ask him to give the court some time, and don't be impulsive and start a war easily."

Yang Xiu sighed repeatedly, bowed and bowed again, and stood up and left.

The emperor stood up and watched Yang Xiu go down the palace. This was not respect for Yang Xiu himself, but for the respect for the general Sun Ce. No matter what, Sun Ce was still very polite to the court in terms of face. If you give me a favor, the court naturally could not neglect it.

Seeing Yang Xiu leave the hall, the emperor sat back again, with a slight choking corner of his mouth, unable to say that he was satisfied. Cao Cao thought he had a plan, but he stopped moving forward after taking Wu County and was perfunctory to the court, but he forgot one thing: he didn't want to challenge Sun Ce on his own initiative, but Sun Ce would not let him go. Now that Zhou Yu is guarding Jiangling, Sun Ce has arrived in Xiangyang and is preparing to attack Hanzhong. Can Cao Cao still hide?

Some things cannot be avoided by hiding.

Recalling Yang Xiu's helplessness, the emperor became more and more excited. He ordered people to take a map and spread it on the table. Looking at the winding and twisty mountain road from Xiangyang to Hanzhong, he was in a good mood. The Three Gorges were steep, and even Sun Ce had a tower ship, he was not sure of winning. He could only retreat and choose Hanzhong as a breakthrough. However, this road was not easy to walk. Not only did there be no big road to go, but there were also local tyrants and even bandits guarding the danger along the way. If you want to advance all the way, it would be impossible to achieve it in less than two or three years.

How much money does Sun Ce have to consume in two or three years? According to Liu Ba's estimate, based on 10,000 people, a year will require 3 billion yuan of expenditures. In addition, Jiangling's garrison will have at least 60,700 billion yuan per year. If the soldiers are hit, the casualties will be too large, and the cost of treatment and plagiarism will be a huge expense, and the total amount may exceed 10 billion yuan.

Even if Sun Ce has money, he cannot withstand such consumption.

Liu Ye’s plan has been achieved halfway, and it depends on Yuan Tan’s next. If Yuan Tan can also send troops and Sun Ce fights on both sides, he will definitely not be able to hold on. Will he surrender to the court or hold on to the end?

The emperor is very curious.

At this time, we can see the advantages of Guanzhong. The court may not have the ability to take the initiative for the time being, but it is more than enough to rely on the advantage of the geographical location to stay in seclusion. Sun Ce was different. The Central Plains was flat, and whether it was the Yangtze River or the Yellow River, he was in the downstream. The offense would face insurmountable obstacles. The defense was also arduous and the situation was passive. He had been fighting for the years. Sometimes it might not be that he was wary, but that he would die if he didn't fight and had to fight.

Lingjun’s suggestion to move the capital was really correct.

While thinking, the emperor sent someone to invite Xun Yu and Liu Ye. Liu Ye came faster and arrived soon. After reading the memorial that Yang Xiu had just handed over, he laughed, feeling as relaxed as the emperor, but he was not as easy to satisfy as the emperor.

"Your Majesty, Cao Cao's stumbling forward is contrary to the court's intention. I need to remind him again. Three Gorges are easy to advance but difficult to retreat. You can launch an offensive from other places. How can you confront each other between three hundred miles?"

The emperor agreed and discussed with Liu Ye, asking Cao Cao to increase his offensive. If he did not work hard and did things perfunctorily, the court would arrange for others to take over Yizhou, and at least a few people would be arranged to serve as prefects in Yizhou and be directly responsible for the offensive against Jingzhou.

Of course, the ones that need to increase the most pressure at the moment are not Yizhou, but Youzhou, Jizhou and Bingzhou, Liu Bei, Yuan Tan and Jia Xu, what do they want to do? Cao Cao has sent troops, and they cannot be idle either.

——

Yang Xiu left Weiyang Palace and did not return to the General's Mansion, but went directly to the Yulin Cavalry Camp of Jianzhang Palace.

Ma Chao was training troops, and the Yulin Knights took turns to practice shooting skills and spear techniques. After being the General of the Yulin Central Army, Ma Chao grabbed the training very tightly. One is because of habit. He fought with Sun Ce and knew the power of elite soldiers. The other is that he did not want Lu Bu to compete. In his personal competition, he had no chance of winning. The Yulin Knight's equipment was much stronger than the Bingzhou Army, and he could not lose to Lu Bu.

Seeing Yang Xiu coming, Ma Chao was surprised and quickly welcomed Yang Xiu in and ordered someone to drink.

Yang Xiu took his seat and explained the situation straight to Ma Chao. Cao Cao provoked and captured Wu County. The general wanted to teach him a lesson and prepare to send Huang Zhong to attack Hanzhong. Ma Teng needed to restrain him from the Wudu side and attack Wu Yi.

Ma Chao was right in his mind. As long as Sun Ce could use the Ma family, the Ma family would be profitable. But he still didn't quite understand why Sun Ce chose to attack Hanzhong. This road was not easy to walk. Not only was it all mountain roads, but it was sparsely populated and could not feed on the spot. He could only carry the food and grass needed by himself, which was a serious burden on logistics. Even if waterways were available, going upstream was also a problem.

Yang Xiu admitted that there was nothing he could do. Although Mian River is difficult to walk, it is always easier to walk than the Yangtze River. Moreover, Wu County was captured by Cao Cao, and Jiangling was under the threat of Cao Cao at any time. By taking the Mian River, he still had the opportunity to bypass the Three Gorges and go directly to the Guan Pass from Fangling and Shangyong areas. In mountain battles, Sun Ce had a greater chance of winning, and Wu Yi's ability was not as good as Cao Cao. He took the two evils to the lesser. It was naturally better to attack Hanzhong than to directly attack Wu County.

There is another obvious benefit to taking Hanzhong. Opening up the passage with Wudu, and the war horses in Liangzhou can go down the Mian River and go straight to Nanyang. He has sent someone to give to Sun Ce a few Liangzhou horses that Ma Chao gave last time. Sun Ce is very satisfied and hopes to buy more for armored cavalry, so the price is easy to negotiate.

Ma Chao laughed and agreed happily. Cao Cao and Sun Ce started a war. Not only the emperor was happy, but also the Ma family and son were also happy. Last year, in a battle between the second debate, Cao Cao defeated Cao Chun, and he was full of resentment. He always wanted to start the war again and seize Wudu. Now that Cao Cao and Sun Ce started fighting, Wudu was safe, and Ma Teng also had more time to win over, train Qiang people, and improve his strength. When he was ready, he would take the initiative to attack Yizhou without Cao Cao.

Yizhou has grain, which can complement Wudu.

——

Yang Xiu talked with Ma Chao for a long time, had a meal, and got up and went home.

Xun Yu was waiting for him, sitting alone in the hall to drink tea. The tea was already tasteless and he was in a little depressed.

Yang Xiu ordered people to change to new tea. Before he could speak, he took out a pile of newspapers and threw them in front of Xun Yu. "Look at the good things you have done, the people of Jingzhou have already started to curse people."

Xun Yu had already learned from Liu Ye that a new thing was published in Jingzhou called a newspaper, but he had not seen the real thing yet. Liu Ye might have it in his hand, but he did not provide it to him. He opened two copies and read it, and understood the whole story. These newspapers reported in the most eye-catching location that Cao Cao's attack on Wu County and provoked war, and his words were suspected of complaining and slandering, so it was indeed not suitable to be published.

"Is this the newspaper?" Xun Yu took a sip of new tea. "Is it Guo Fengxiao or Zhang Zigang's suggestion? It's very creative."

"None are not." Yang Xiu said lightly: "It was the printing shop's own idea. After the printing techniques were announced, the printing shop was everywhere and the business was not easy to do, so some people came up with this solution."

"Can this make money? It seems that the people's livelihood in Jingzhou is really good. Ordinary people still have spare money to buy this thing."

"This is not expensive. You can only order five zhu coins per month, which is affordable for everyone."

"Puff!" Xun Yu sprayed all the water on the newspaper, and the text on it immediately dizzed. Xun Yu quickly wiped it with water, and accidentally poked it to pieces. Obviously, this kind of paper is not a good paper, and the cost should not be high. But even so, it is too cheap to only make a six-month newspaper per month, and there must be many people who are able to subscribe.

"So cheap?"

"It's just a cost price, how expensive can it be."

"Since there is no profit, why do you need to print this thing in the seal shop?"

Yang Xiu smiled but said nothing. Xun Yu then understood again. "Incite public opinion? Is it the prefects of each county paying money, or is it the state paying money?"

Yang Xiu curled his lips and sighed meaningfully. "Xun Wenruo, you are like the court. You have too deep habits and always look at new things from an old perspective. You can no longer keep up with Zhang Xiang's pace. Don't always think about inciting public opinion? The general is not a party member and doesn't like that." He paused and said, "Who said that newspapers cannot make money if they are cheap? Do you think those who open book printing shops are fools, specializing in business that is not profitable? If you really don't make money, this thing can still be so popular. All counties are competing for it and they almost fight?"

Xun Yu was confused. He really didn't know how this newspaper made money. It was not until he turned to the back of the newspaper and saw the content promoting new products that he had a sudden enlightenment.

“Does these people who publish product information on it give the money?”
Chapter completed!