Cao Xiu stood aside, glanced at the secret document and saw the words "Ganning Westward" and couldn't help but feel a stern.

Gan Ning was not only the governor of the Wu State, but also the famous Jinfan thief in Bashu. Although he surrendered to Sun Ce and had a bad reputation in Yizhou, everyone recognized that he had the best ability to fight water and knew the water routes of Bashu well.

What does such a person lead the Wu Navy, which is the most dominant world, to Yizhou? Needless to say, he must have gone up the river and attacked the Three Gorges defense line head-on. Regardless of whether he can succeed, as long as he appears in the Three Gorges, Cao Cao cannot be careless. It is inevitable that Cao Cao will personally lead the troops. In this way, the troops who can deal with Zhou Yu and Huang Zhong's attack on both wings will be very limited.

There is also Jiange in Hanzhong, but there are not many dangerous passes in Nanzhong. Without enough troops, it is almost impossible to block Zhou Yu from the south. The only thing you can count on is the dangerous mountains and rivers in Nanzhong. I hope they can block Zhou Yu and make Zhou Yu go so smoothly.

At this moment, Cao Xiu was able to understand Cao Cao's mood best. The disaster came. Not only Gan Ning was a disaster, but Sun Ce ignored Yuan Tan's 200,000 troops and still had the determination to attack Yizhou was the biggest disaster. If Gan Ning could not conquer and Sun Ce went into battle personally, what should he do? Can Yizhou still stop it?

Cao Xiu looked at Xi Zhicai and was nervous. He wanted to see Xi Zhicai's embarrassment and calmness. He almost didn't take much trouble, so he made a choice: He hoped that Xi Zhicai could see the flaws at a glance.

But unfortunately, Xi Zhicai's face became extremely solemn. He let out a moment of consciousness and let out a sigh. "June, I will go back to Chengdu with you. There is no more news, and I have no way to judge."

Cao Cao was silent for a moment, nodded, and ordered Cao Xiu to prepare the car. Cao Xiu accepted the order and hurriedly left. Cao Cao held Xi Zhicai's hand and whispered: "Zhicai, can he be a suspicious soldier?"

"It's possible. But looking at Sun Ce's use of troops, he believes more in strength. Even suspicious soldiers have considerable combat power. Once they find a fighter, they can turn into an enemy. The king and the prince must not be guarded."

"Yes, you must be careful." Cao Cao smiled bitterly: "I think we may have done something stupid. We forced Sun Ce to fight hard, but we didn't calculate whether he really fought hard. Can we stop him?"

"If Yizhou can't stop it, who else can stop it?" Xi Zhicai closed his eyes and said hoarsely: "Your Majesty, don't worry. As long as you deal with it properly, Yizhou's energy will not be exhausted."

Cao Cao nodded and agreed with Xi Zhicai's opinion. As far as the situation is concerned, Yizhou is undoubtedly the best among the forces that are enemies of Sun Ce. It has both the right place to defend, and there is enough room for maneuver, and there is also sufficient money, grain and household registration. Unless the emperor and Yuan Tan give up and allow Sun Ce to attack Yizhou with all his might, Yizhou will not perish. He believes that the emperor and Yuan Tan will not give up. If Yizhou is destroyed, they will not live long. Especially Yuan Tan, he has raised all the 200,000 troops in Jizhou, not for others, but for himself.

Compared with Yizhou and Guanzhong, Jizhou is in the most difficult situation. Sun Ce has already taken half of Youzhou. If Yizhou had not launched an attack on the initiative and attracted Sun Ce's attention, Sun Ce might have attacked Jizhou long ago.

Not long after, Cao Xiu prepared the carriage and came in to report. Xi Zhicai opened his eyes and supported the handrail of his hand to stand up. He tried several times but failed. Instead, he was so tired that he was out of breath and sweating all over his forehead. He gritted his teeth and said nothing, and the blue veins on his forehead were bulging. He was about to try again. Cao Cao took off his cloak and threw it to Cao Xiu. He reached out and pulled Xi Zhicai, put it on his back, held Xi Zhicai's legs with both hands, and walked out.

The carriage was outside the door. Cao Cao got on the car with Xi Zhicai on his back and carefully put Xi Zhicai down. Then he sat down opposite Xi Zhicai and closed the car door. "Zhicai, even if he dies, we will die together."

Xi Zhicai grinned, trying to say something, but he had no strength. He closed his eyes tiredly and nodded gently. After a while, he accumulated some strength and said with a hissing: "Let me write a letter to Zixiu, you can't drag it anymore."

"Okay!" Cao Cao responded, put his arm on the car window, and tapped his fingers, and he was slow and quick.

After a while, Cao Xiu walked out with a few knights and waiters, with Xi Zhicai's luggage. The driver raised his horse whip and the strong horse neighed. Cao Xiu led five hundred leopard cavalry to the side of the side and protected the carriage to gallop eastward.

Mrs. Lu, who rushed over after hearing the news, stood in front of the gate, looked at the team in the distance, and sighed softly. "The opera priest will not come again."

Wang Zhi asked, "Then what should we do?"

Mrs. Lu looked back at Wang Zhi and pondered for a moment. "You go to Jiangdong and meet Yu Ji. If possible, find an opportunity to meet the King of Wu and meet him, and see if he is a real person of destiny and whether he has any worries about heaven."

"Here."

——

After leaving Qingcheng Mountain, there was a smooth road, and the carriage was walking along the official road.

The relationship between Mrs. Tolu and Cao Cao, the official road leading to Chengdu from Qingcheng Mountain was very flat, and Xi Zhicai's carriage was a new car bought from Nanyang. After special modifications, the driver who drove the carriage and the horses who pulled the carriage were carefully selected. Even if the speed was very fast, the carriage was still very stable.

Cao Cao told Xi Zhicai the information he received recently. Although Xi Zhicai insisted on seeing the original information before making a judgment, it is always good to let him know some information in advance, at least he has a direction to think about it. Tactics may have various unexpected events, but the variables at the strategic level are limited, and it is impossible to have mutations in the short term, and there are traces to change in the virtual and real.

Xi Zhicai never spoke. Cao Cao didn't ask him. After telling the information he knew, he was silent, thinking about his own thoughts, shrouded in uncontrollable sadness.

He remembered He Yong. Some time ago, Cao Ang wrote a letter saying that He Yong left Yuan Tan, returned to his hometown in Nanyang, and was preparing to live in seclusion. The nominal reason was that he was old and wanted to spend his old age in peace, but the actual meaning was even deeper. He Yong was likely to be desperate about the world and did not want to do useless achievements. Of course, there was another possibility, looking for a residence for Yuan Tan to retire after his defeat.

Nanyang is full of mountains, so it is not difficult to find a secluded place. Yuan Tan has a close relationship with Sun Ce, so he cannot just look at each other with the enemy. If Yuan Tan refuses to surrender after his defeat, retirement will undoubtedly be an acceptable result for both sides.

He Yong once encouraged him to rest in the world, and suggested that he meet Xu Shao for a comment. Unexpectedly, now Xu Shao escapes and He Yong retires, while he is trapped in Yizhou. Not to mention the rest in the world, whether he can save his life is a question.

How did things turn out like this? It was really because of Chiyouqi, and Sun Ce was born according to the destiny of heaven?

The destiny of heaven is mysterious and there are many different opinions. He has always believed it, but now he has to believe it. If it weren't for the destiny of heaven, how could a son of a poor martial artist, have established such achievements in just a few years? His new policies have no precedent, but they have practical tricks. After learning some in Yizhou, he felt that he had benefited a lot, but unfortunately he didn't learn enough.

As for the means of laying out the world, it was even more incredible. When he made the arrangement, almost no one realized the meaning of it. Until these seemingly idle chess pieces played one by one and were connected to form a net, he could see his cleverness.

For him, the one who made him most uncomfortable was undoubtedly Ma Teng. Ma Teng controlled Wudu and controlled his way to Liangzhou, which almost made him unable to return to Yizhou. Now Huang Zhong is attacking from Xiangyang. If Ma Teng supports Sun Ce and attacks from west to east, Wu Yi will be able to hold on with the enemy on both sides?

How to solve this dilemma?

"June, how many household registrations can you have in Yuzhou?" Xi Zhicai said suddenly.

Cao Cao was stunned. Xi Zhicai asked again. He realized after thinking for a while and said, "Since Sun Ce implemented the new policy in Yuzhou, robbed the land of aristocratic families, and dictated the land. The people of Qing, Xu and Yan provinces have fled into Yuzhou in large numbers, especially the epidemic in Chuping for the fifth year. Sun Ce provided medicine to treat it, and the living god Yu Ji helped. Almost all the people in the three states could go. I guess the household registration in Yuzhou has increased in recent years. Even if it was not as good as before the Yellow Turbans, it was not far away. There were always millions of households. Of course, many people went to Jiangnan to farm and needed to be reduced. The specific situation is not clear, so I have to go back and check it carefully and calculate it."

"The people of the three states..." Xi Zhicai smiled bitterly, and wanted to speak but stopped. "There are always 400,000 households?"

Cao Cao did not think about it. "It must be." After thinking about it, he added another sentence. "It's only more or less."

"That's trouble." Xi Zhicai raised his hand and gently pinched his eyebrows. "If there are 400,000 households in Yuzhou, and they can conscript at least 200,000 soldiers on the spot, then Yuan Tan's threat to Yanzhou is not enough to make Yanzhou change its position. Yuan Tan's possibility of attacking Yuzhou from Yanzhou is extremely low. If he forcibly advances, he will have to fight Yanzhou first. Even if he can win in the end, it will take at least one or two months. Yanzhou's money and food are limited, and the gain is not worth the loss. Attacking Yuzhou is the end of his strength."

Xi Zhicai's voice was not loud, not fast, and it sounded calm, but Cao Cao heard from it that Xi Zhicai was unable to do so. "Zhicai, don't worry, it's not too late to say it after returning to Chengdu and checking the relevant records."

Xi Zhicai slowly shook his head. "Eunuch, we are all wrong. Sun Ce's key is in Jiangnan, not in the Central Plains. Even if the Central Plains are destroyed, he will not have any trouble. He will only drive the remaining people to Jiangnan. Eunuch, have you ever wondered why he did this?"

Cao Cao also found it strange. "This is indeed puzzling. Those who fight for the world must compete for the Central Plains, but he is dedicated to developing Jiangnan and is not very careful about the Central Plains. Is it because he is from Jiangdong?"

"This answer is too superficial." Xi Zhicai said bluntly. "I vaguely remember that among his many strange and strange theories, one of them was about climate catastrophe. He said that it was a small glacier, but he couldn't remember the specific one. Do you still remember it?"
Chapter completed!