Three Kingdoms

  Chapter 1078 Questions caused by letters

  At this moment, Cao Cao, who is far away in Xuzhou, is also facing difficulties.

  One of them is Cao Cao, who secretly sent people to pick up his father Cao Song and his younger brother Cao De. Tao Qian discovered that Tao Qian not only failed to pick them up, but took a team in instead.

Tao Qian even asked someone to write a very ironic letter, expressing convincingly that Cao Song, Cao Cao's old man, lived in Xuzhou at ease, so Cao Cao didn't need to worry about it, and Cao Cao should think about how to be loyal to him. The Han Dynasty, do more good things for the common people...

   It is clear that a father is teaching his son.

   "Shameless!" Cao Cao was extremely angry, but there was nothing he could do.

Speaking of which, Cao Cao did not attack Tao Qian for no reason. As early as when Cao Cao was chasing Yuan Shu, Tao Qian took advantage of Cao Cao's army to expand the territory on the one hand, and sent troops to attack Yuan Shu on the other hand to support his ally Yuan Shu. In the south of Yanzhou, if Cao Cao hadn't retreated, maybe they would have gone north to copy Cao Cao's lair.

This time Cao Cao made a deliberate move, choosing a completely different direction from Langya's, and especially sent troops to meet his father Cao Song and others before the army left, but perhaps it was delayed due to some unexpected incident, or Tao Qianqian was prepared, anyway, this time the action failed.

   Moreover, it can be seen from this letter that it is unlikely that he will secretly pick up Cao Song in the future, and Tao Qian will definitely be more defensive.

  Cao Cao's current situation is not as smooth as later generations imagined, and he is still several hundred miles away from the state of a confident life of three hundred years.

  In fact, there is another compelling reason for the conquest of Xuzhou, but this reason is not known to people. Some time ago, Cao Cao received a secret order from Yuan Shao to kill Zhang Miao.

In fact, Zhang Miao is also a member of Yuan Shao's side, but Zhang Miao is older, I don't know because after the Jujube Alliance, Zhang Miao, who was originally a local snake, did not get any benefits, but lost a lot of food and grass The reason for the men and horses was that Yuan Shao didn't share some benefits with Zhang Miao after he became the leader of the alliance and became a chariot general. Anyway, Zhang Miao's attitude towards Yuan Shao was not as respected as it was at the beginning, and he even respected Yuan Shao. I wrote a letter, expressing some personal suggestions on Yuan Shao's current behavior...

  As for Yuan Shao, he is so proud and arrogant, how can he tolerate Zhang Miao's pointing fingers just because he is older? So he didn't like to talk to Zhang Miao even more, but he didn't expect how rude such behavior was in Zhang Miao's eyes. When he found out that Zhang Miao had lost face, he was furious, and of course he couldn't help but utter some words.

  In the Han Dynasty, even having a banquet and forgetting the time would change from friends to enemies, let alone in such a situation where there are obviously some cracks?

   But the relationship between Cao Cao and Zhang Miao...

When he was in Chenliu, the imperial court ordered Cao Cao to be arrested. Zhang Miao pretended not to see and protected Cao Cao; When we were in Suanzao, Cao Cao suggested sending troops to pursue Dong Zhuo, and Zhang Miao supported part of the troops...

  With all these things, it can be said that Zhang Miao is very good to Cao Cao, and it can even be said that he is kind to Cao Cao. Perhaps it was precisely because of this that Yuan Shao asked Cao Cao to do this to test whether Cao Cao was really on Yuan Shao's side. After all, Dongjun and Chen Liu are relatively close, if the two of them get together, it will not be very fun for Yuan Shao.

  But Cao Cao couldn't do it.

   In other words, Cao Cao still can’t do anything now. Cao Cao withstood the pressure and replied to Yuan Shao, saying that we are friends who have been friends since we were young, and we shouldn’t tear each other down when the world is in chaos...

  In order to avoid Yuan Shao's unrelenting request again, and some embarrassing situations with Zhang Miao, Cao Cao simply sent troops to Xuzhou in advance, anyway, it just happened to solve the problem of Qingzhou soldiers' food and grass.

  However, the granaries in the counties of Xuzhou that were conquered have been emptied. These granaries originally didn't have much storage at all. Most of them only had an outer layer for display, and the inside was empty!

If the conquest continues, one is that the longer and longer the battle line, the overall shape of the battle situation will change. If Tao Qian counterattacks, he will be defeated. On the other hand, it shows that among the newly conquered cities, How much food and grass, if it is the same as the ones in hand?

  In addition to the letter from Tao Qian that made Cao Cao extremely angry, there was also a letter from Cheng Yu in Yanzhou that made Cao Cao feel cold all over...

  Cheng Yu's letters are very simple, as simple as Cheng Yu's habitual words, direct and sharp. The letter said that in the recent period of time, there has been no letter from Hedong, nor any correspondence from Hedong. Not only that, Cheng Yu also checked the records of the post station for two or three months, and visited some book assistants. There is no record of any letters to and from Hedong.

  In this era, if it is an ordinary person's letter, there are no more than two ways, one is to entrust someone to carry it, and the other is to go to the post station. As for trustees, they either send their own personal guards or something, or they meet someone who happens to be on the way, and the post station naturally does this letter delivery business, but the cost is relatively high, and if you don’t have some identity Yes, the soldiers at the post station are too lazy to talk to each other...

  As an official in Cao Cao's forces, he naturally has some status. Therefore, it is a relatively normal choice to put letters and so on and walk together in the post station.

  Of course, if it is said that some relatively secret letters involve some things that cannot be known by others, then it must be delivered by a special person to ensure safety and not leak.

  If it is an ordinary letter from home...

  Is special confidentiality required?

  Would you rather spend extra manpower and material resources than use a simpler post station?

  Cao Cao pinched Cheng Yu's letter and fell silent for a long time.

What about Tao Qian, anyway, it is like that, although it is annoying, but after all, the two armies are facing each other, and it is impossible to say who is right and who is wrong, even if Cao Cao himself takes Tao Qian's position, maybe he will do even better It was too much, but the news revealed in Cheng Yu's letter made Cao Cao very uneasy.

A few days ago, Xun Yu mentioned in a letter that Wei Ji seemed to have a lot of contacts with Jizhou, and then corresponded with Cheng Yu's investigation, and then thought of the route Wei Ji had defected to at that time, it seems that Heluo did not go well. This one, but the road to Hanoi on the north bank of the Dahe River...

  Of course, Heluo was restless at the time, and it cannot be said that there must be something wrong with going to Hanoi County.

but…

Cao Cao put down the letter, frowned and walked around the big tent for several times. Finally, he walked out of the big tent with his hands behind his back, and walked to the side. After passing through several tents, Cao Cao stopped in front of a tent. The footsteps, the small eyes under the thick eyebrows flickered a few times, then stopped the guards in front of the big tent from saluting, opened the curtain of the tent, and walked in.

  Although it is daytime, the light inside the tent is still a bit dim.

"Who?! Huh? Ke...have met Minggong..." Wei Ke raised his head from the table, just asked a little annoyed, but saw the figure of Cao Cao, put down his pen quickly, and wrote what he was writing Pushing the bamboo slips aside, he got up and saluted Cao Cao.

  Cao Cao narrowed his eyes, chuckled twice, and said, "Zi Yu, sit, sit, I'm just walking around here, so I came here to have a look... Are you busy?"

  Wei Ji also smiled, and said, "It's just a few trifles..."

   "Oh, what's the trivial matter, why don't you take it and have a look?" Cao Cao sat down and straightened his robe while smiling, as if talking casually.

   Wei Jiao was taken aback for a moment.

   "Oh, could it be that someone can't see it?" Cao Cao squinted his eyes and said with a half-smile.

   "...Ming Gong was joking, so of course you can see it, you can see it..." Wei Ji said, then took a roll of bamboo slips from the table and handed it to Cao Cao.

  Cao Cao took it, unfolded it, and it was about the allocation of money and food in the army...

   "Hmm..." Cao Cao looked at it, and suddenly asked, "How much military rations are left?"

  Wei Ji shook his head and said: "Now the consumption is quite high, and there is not much in stock. If there is no new purchase, I am afraid it will be more than a month at most."

   "Well..." Cao Cao frowned, closed the bamboo slips, and said to Wei Ke, "The public warehouses in the surrounding counties are all out of food and grass... I wonder if Zi Cui has a good plan?"

  Wei Ji pondered for a while, and said: "Now it is only in the surrounding Wubao, maybe there is some money and food... Minggong might as well go to the business to borrow some food and grass..."

   "Borrow again?" Cao Cao's brows furrowed deeply. The nobles around here have already "borrowed" once, and it will be difficult to "borrow" again.

   Wei Jiao smiled and said: "If you don't borrow..." Halfway through speaking, he raised his palm and pointed everything down.

   "Hmm..." Cao Cao took a deep breath and fell silent. It's not that Cao Cao is kind, it's just that he needs to weigh whether the consequences of doing so are worth it. Kill chickens to scare monkeys? It's a common thing. If you don't kill one or two country tyrants, don't others think that Cao Cao is easy to talk and easy to bully? But after doing this, they will inevitably turn against the gentry in Xuzhou. If there is a chance to enter Xuzhou in the future, it will increase a lot of obstacles out of thin air.

  Although it is said that Cao Cao bears the name of the governor of Yanzhou, he does not actually control the entire Yanzhou. Some of them are in the hands of Tian Kai and Liu Bei who crossed the border, and some of them are in the state of no one, such as Taishan County. As for Qingzhou, it is extremely rotten. Even if Tian Kai and Liu Bei win the competition, they will not be able to fully recover in a while, and there will be a lot of posting, which is not a very suitable direction. As for Yuzhou in the south and Jizhou in the north, There is no need to say more, so the only space that is considered relatively good is Xuzhou. However, if the gentry in Xuzhou is completely at odds with the gentry in Xuzhou, it means that Cao Cao will only use methods like rogues to plunder resources in the future when dealing with Xuzhou. support.

   Wei Ke's suggestion is indeed not wrong, it can indeed solve the urgent need, but is it worth it?

  Besides, for the present Cao Cao, there is another question that needs to be considered. Is Wei Ke's suggestion a suggestion that he thought of personally, or is it a suggestion that others need him to pass on...

   "This matter..." Cao Cao hesitated, his eyes flickering.

Wei Ji looked at Cao Cao, arched his hands and said, "Duke Ming, the place where Xuzhou fought four battles, and there is a general who is behind him, and he is far away from Yanzhou. The heart of the gentry, do twice the work and get half the result, sincerely should not do it..."

   "Hmm..." Cao Cao was still pondering.

"Duke Ming," Wei Qie saw this, and continued, "Heluo is restless, Qingyan is uncertain, and Hebei is also undecided. Under such a situation, it is useless if you cannot be stationed. If the army is stationed, the troops will be dispersed. I'm also afraid of being taken advantage of by others."

"Heluo is restless, Qingyan is uncertain, and Hebei is still undecided?" Cao Cao narrowed his eyes, repeated Wei Ke's words, looked at Wei Ke, and said after a while, "...Forget it, someone will order Zi Lian to send troops tomorrow, Borrow food from the surrounding area..."

   Wei Ke cupped his hands and said, "My lord is wise."

  Cao Cao was noncommittal, and while returning the bamboo slips to Wei Ke, he said, "Did Zi Cui write a letter to his family recently? The army is away, and it is good to report that he is safe..."

   Wei Ji took the bamboo slips, and replied casually: "Report to Duke Ming, yes, I just wrote it a few days ago..."

   "Did someone send it back? Or is it a post station?" Cao Cao flicked the hem of his clothes, as if he was flicking the dust from the contamination.

  Wei Jiao looked up at Cao Cao, and then said: "...it should be sent back by someone... It's been a long time, and I have forgotten it..."

"Oh..." Cao Cao turned his head to look outside the tent, and said in an understatement, "...the road is not safe now, if Zicuo's family letter goes to the post station, there will be some soldiers to take care of it. It is somewhat risky to ask someone to bring it back. ...How about this, Zicuo, you might as well write a letter to the family now, and order the courier to send it to Hedong, so as to avoid any accidents on the way...I have been away for many years, and Zicuo's family must be very worried..."

   "This..." Wei Jiao was stunned for a moment, then cupped his hands and thanked him, "Mr. Xie Ming cared about... the transfer at the post station is a military and state affairs, and it is only for the private interests of one person, how can you use public weapons..."

   "Forget it..." Cao Cao nodded, stood up, and said with a smile, "Zi Cui is a role model for serving the public wholeheartedly... But the person who sends the letter must be chosen properly. If the route is lost, it would be unbeautiful..."

   "What Duke Ming said is that he wants to be taught..." Wei Jiao respectfully sent Cao Cao out of the big account.

Cao Cao squinted his eyes, waved his hand, and let Wei Ke go to work on his own, then raised his head, and after walking for a certain distance, at the corner, he suddenly stopped, turned his head halfway, and stared sideways at Wei Ke's tent, After rolling his eyes for a while, he continued to walk forward with a straight face.

At this time, Wei Ke, who was in the tent, sat down again, and removed the bamboo slips on the table that said the military's money and food matters, revealing another roll of bamboo slips underneath, and after spreading it out again, Looking at the half-written handwriting, he raised his head and looked outside the tent, frowning involuntarily...

  (end of this chapter)