There is a reason Cao Cao was so depressed.

Xi Zhicai went to Jiaozhou in person to assist Liu Yao and the senior officials in dealing with Sun Jian, and restraining Sun Ce's attention. It was originally possible to achieve great success. Xi Zhicai had surrounded Sun Quan and forced Sun Jian to lead his troops to help. He planned to defeat Sun Quan first before Sun Jian arrived, and then face Sun Jian. Unexpectedly, Sun Quan resisted the fierce attacks of Liu Yao and others with his excellent military orchestra and well-trained soldiers. After Sun Jian arrived, he forcibly tore open Liu Yao's siege and rescued Sun Quan.

Each step is only a little bit short, and the final victory is a no-decision victory. What should have been annihilated failed to annihilate, what should have been blocked failed, and what could have been tied became a failure. In the absence of other factors, the technical advantages gave the Sun family and his son more initiative, destroyed Xi Zhicai's plan and defeated Xi Zhicai's wisdom with brute force.

Cao Cao himself also had a deep understanding of this. In the last year's battle, he suffered a lot in the face of Ma Teng and Yang Teng. Later information confirmed that Ma Teng owned the new-style armies in Nanyang, and Yang Teng's hands were just the armies eliminated by Sun Ce's army. If Yang Teng had the best armies like Sun Jian and learned Sun Ce's method of training military force, the result would be unimaginable. Because of this, he was eager to occupy Wudu and Longxi before Ma Teng gained a foothold. He originally planned to send troops in the spring and summer, but Sun Ce came to the west and made his plan vain.

Wisdom can only make full use of existing advantages, but technology can turn the impossible into a possibility. Cao Cao realized this, but it was a little late. He spent a lot of effort to learn from Sun Ce's military farming and training troops, but he did not expect that Sun Ce's biggest killing weapon was not military farming and training troops, but Mu Academy.

He can also build a wooden school, but he needs time, but Sun Ce may not give him time, and the emperor has no such patience.

The imperial edict had been sent to Yizhou. On the surface, it seemed a harmonious but murderous intent. The envoy mentioned a rumor recently circulated in Chang'an: In the fifth year of Xiping, Huang Long met Qiao. Cao Cao had a vague impression of this incident. That year, Cao Ang was born and he had his eldest son. He was in a very good mood, but he didn't expect that Huang Long had any relationship with his Cao family. Over the years, he had never thought that the Cao family might have something to do with fate. He didn't even think that Yuan Shao had any hope, so he was as active as he was to call Dong Shi.

The court's meaning is very obvious: either attack Sun Ce to prove his innocence, or give up Yizhou to avoid suspicion. Huang Long met Qiao, and Cao Ang and Sun Ce's relationship, the court had enough reason to doubt his loyalty. Even if he did not want to attack Sun Ce, Sun Ce would use this reason to attack him and fight for Yizhou.

Of course he cannot give up Yizhou. This is his hard work and the foundation of his life. Give up Yizhou and be an idle person in Chang'an?

He can't do it.

If you can't give up Yizhou, you can only take the initiative to challenge Sun Ce. However, facing Sun Ce, he has no chance of winning, especially before he has won Wudu. It is impossible to compete for the Central Plains without a war horse. Sun Ce spent so much effort to seize Youzhou, solve the supply of war horses, and seize the opportunity. He must also have a corresponding source of war horses.

Always one step away.

"Zhicai, if Sun Ce comes to attack, how should we set up defenses?"

"First take Zigui and Wuxian, step by step, to destroy their spirits, then hold on to the Guan Pass, wait for labor. Use iron ropes to cross the river, and the large ships store oil to wait for it. If they can't defend, set fire to the ship. The ships in Yizhou are too old, so they just burned and both sides were killed." Xi Zhicai coughed for a while and said panting: "If we can block Sun Ce for a while and destroy some ships, we will still have a chance."

Cao Cao felt it was reasonable. He had no technical advantage, but had a geographical advantage. If he couldn't beat it, he would release the fire ship and go down the river to fight with Sun Ce. He was so arrogant that he was afraid of being stunned, and even if he bet on the entire Yizhou navy, as long as he could burn Sun Ce's warship and block Sun Ce, he would have a chance to turn over. When Sun Ce made up the ship, he would also change into a new ship.

Of course, this requires him to master the technology of the new ship as soon as possible. This can be solved by capturing warships on the battlefield, or through careful work. In short, it requires Xi Zhicai to work hard.

"Zhicai, you plan to make a plan and I will arrange for someone to implement it."

Xi Zhicai nodded helplessly. Although he was worried about others, he knew that his body could not bear such a heavy task, so he could only choose the important ones to do first. He signaled Cao Cao to get on the car and go back to the city to discuss. Cao Cao got on the car, and called Fa Zheng to get on the car, and sat side by side with him.

When the carriage started, Xi Zhicai looked at Fa Zheng sitting opposite him, with a complicated look. Fa Zheng didn't speak and looked back at Xi Zhicai calmly. After a while, Xi Zhicai withdrew his gaze and said while coughing, "Xiaozhi, what suggestions do you have?"

Fa Zheng was not too slow. "I want to go to Changsha and see those warships with my own eyes."

Xi Zhicai's eyes flashed slightly, and then shook his head again. "You can't go. I was lucky enough to get out of here in Wancheng last time, and I can't take any more danger this time." Before Fa Zheng could speak, he said again: "You need you around you too."

Fa Zheng did not persist anymore. He thought about it and said, "Then let Meng Da go there. He is a soldier commander. He has a look at Wu Military Academy with his own eyes and has a deeper understanding. He has a Guanzhong accent, which is not easy to attract attention."

Xi Zhicai thought for a moment and agreed. "Imagine a fake identity. There must be a detailed work arranged by Guo Jia and Xun You in Yizhou. They may have heard of Meng Da's name, and may even have Meng Da's appearance. Let him make up the rhetoric and don't expose it."

Fa Zheng said: "He can pretend to be a businessman in Guanzhong and buy a few sets of weapons. Although the weapons in Nanyang are expensive, they are still worth the money."

Xi Zhicai felt it made sense and closed his eyes tiredly. "You sort out some news from Guanzhong to make him familiar with it in advance and make more preparations."

Cao Cao raised his eyebrows lightly and quietly let out a sigh of relief.

In the late April, Sun Ce arrived at Dongting Lake.

Dongting Lake was originally part of Yunmeng Lake. Yunmeng Lake spanned the north and south of the Yangtze River. With the sedimentation of mud and sand, the part in the north of the Yangtze River became swamps, and the part in the south of the Yangtze River became Dongting Lake. The name of Dongting Lake comes from Dongting Mountain in the lake. Dongting Mountain is not big, but it is very famous. It is said that Huangdi casts a tripod here, Emperor Shun brings Ehuang and the Emperor of the Great Britain to travel together, Qin Shihuang climbs this mountain to seal it, and Emperor Wu of Han shoots the dragon here, which means he has a nose and eyes.

Sun Ce could not avoid the common people, so he also visited Junshan accompanied by Zhou Yu, Zhang Xun and others.

Zhang Xun was in a good mood. As Yuan Shu’s old subordinate, he is now a military commander. His official position is not high, and he is in leisure and his life is very comfortable. He has a villa on Junshan, and he stays in the lake for business. When he learned that Sun Ce was coming, he freed up the courtyard early and asked Sun Ce to enjoy the scenery and stay for a few days.

It is difficult to refuse the kindness, and Sun Ce readily obeys his orders. Living on the island is also beneficial. First, safety is easy to ensure, and second, it can avoid many unnecessary guests and will not disturb the people.

This time, Yuan Heng accompanied him as his newlywed wife. When he saw Yuan Heng standing beside Sun Ce, the wrinkles on Zhang Xun's face were filled with joy. He even praised Yuan Shu for having a vision back then and chose a good son-in-law for Yuan Heng, which made Yuan Heng feel embarrassed.

Zhang Zifu accompanied her throughout the journey. However, the closest thing she was not the sisters of Yuan, but Huang Yueying. As one of the initiators of Nanyang Wood School, Zhang Zifu rarely participated in the affairs of the Wood School after marrying a wife. This time Huang Yueying came to test the boat, which evoked her memories again, and she couldn't help but sigh.

Just as he was preparing for the Dragon Boat Festival Race, Sun Ce received news from Zhou Yu.

Cao Cao himself moved to Yufu, Wu County, and scouts from the Yizhou army near Zigui. All signs indicate that Cao Cao might intend to seize Wu County, Zigui, and Zhou Yu decided to strengthen the defense of the two counties to prevent Cao Cao from succeeding. The terrain of the Three Gorges was steep and Cao Cao occupied the upper reaches, so he had obvious advantages. If he was allowed to seize Wu County, Zigui, the entire Three Gorges would fall into his hands, and Jingzhou would be very passive.

Sun Ce agreed to Zhou Yu's decision and let Zhou Yu deploy the battle.

He was more concerned about the intention behind Cao Cao's actions. The emperor would not sit idly by and fail, and could not take the initiative to go out of seclusion to fight. It was almost inevitable that Cao Cao and Yuan Tan would attack each other with the two wings. It was very important whether Cao Cao did this to respond to the emperor's actions or to his reaction to his move to Jingzhou.

If Cao Cao takes the initiative to attack, he will have enough reason to launch the Hanzhong offensive.

Before the news of Yizhou arrived, the news of Chang'an arrived first. Yang Xiu sent the news that the emperor sent envoys to Yizhou and Jizhou respectively, which was announcing the new policy on the surface, but in fact, it might be asking Cao Cao and Yuan Tan to send troops to attack. In addition, Yang Xiu also mentioned one thing. A rumor recently appeared in Chang'an: in the fifth year of Xiping, Qiao County reported that Huanglong appeared, and Cao Ang was born that year.

Yang Xiu has checked the relevant records. This rumor is true and was recorded in the palace secretary. Logically speaking, the secretary in Cai Yong's hands also had the same records, and of course it may have been deleted.

Sun Ce had no impression, and he didn't care about these things. He never planned to make a fuss about it, nor did he think that these strange signs were credible. Even if Huanglong appeared in Qiao County in the year when Cao Ang was born, it had nothing to do with Cao Ang. In the original history, Cao Ang died in Wancheng last year and did not see the possibility of the Cao family becoming emperor.

The court made such a rumor, and its intention was self-evident. In addition to showing to ordinary people that he was not destined to be destined, it may also have two intentions: one is to provoke his relationship with Cao Ang, making Cao Ang a problem for him; the other is to force Cao Cao to take the initiative to attack and express allegiance to the court.

But I have to say that this move is a bit unpredictable. The complete conspiracy may have had some impact on the Cao family's father and son, but it has no effect on him. Instead, it gave him an excuse to attack Yizhou.

Sun Ce then conveyed the news to Zhou Yu, making him ready for war.
Chapter completed!